


Making the Best of It

by snowstormjonerys



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), bethyl - Fandom
Genre: F/M, bethyl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:05:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 42,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7302574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowstormjonerys/pseuds/snowstormjonerys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth and Daryl are reunited in Alexandria but can they figure out a way to bridge the gap in their relationship? Beth seems broken and Daryl is just angry. Can they navigate their relationship now that they are back together? Beth is no longer the doe-eyed innocent from before. Daryl is no longer the brooding angry soul. What does all this mean for them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is being put up all in one go. Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> It was written pre-Coda so this is a universe where Beth got out of Grady on her own and met them in Alexandria. (formerly Eyes of the Heart )

Beth caught him staring at her again. Daryl had been doing that more lately, when he thought she wasn't looking. She caught him again now and her heart ached as that "look" crossed his face, his jaw set in a hard line. Normally he would be grabbing up his bow and stalking off into the woods. Into the woods even though they were safely ensconced within the walls of Alexandria. He'd come back hours later and she'd see him later that night slinking back in well after midnight, crossbow slung over his back and a weight in his step. He'd always glance over to her house she stayed in with Maggie and Glenn and she could never be sure he saw her. She was safely entrenched in the shadows of the front porch of the two bedroom row house down the main street they had been assigned to. She couldn't make out his eyes either although she could guess what she would find there. Anger.

She'd been mesmerized by those eyes ever since their last night together before she had stupidly thought that he might be looking at her in a different way. In the way that Glenn looked at Maggie. In the way that her dearly departed Daddy had looked at her mama, departed as well but Beth wasn't so sure about the dearly part. The way her mama had left this world, twice, was not fit for any memorial service Beth could bring to mind. If she really thought about it, the look Daryl got in his eyes sometimes now, haunted her. Crept right into her brain at night and seeped into her consciousness to the point that she could see his eyes behind her own closed lids as though he could see into her soul.

He'd been giving her the silent treatment since they'd arrived a few nights ago. Beth had already been there although she hadn't been there long. She'd come in a mere day prior to their group. She had scarcely believed it when she arrived, Jamie, Barry, and Pixie in tow. Pixie was one of the girls from the hospital. She was a tiny sprite of a girl, small, blond, twelve and fiery as a barn cat, she reminded Beth a lot of herself at the same age. Jamie and Barry were the other two girls that had made it out of there with her, both of them quiet but stealthy warriors who'd fought their way here just as hard as she had.

She guessed she deserved the way he was shutting her out. She couldn't really blame him. He had told her plenty of times to stay close to him when the walkers crawled out of the woodwork of the broken landscape that was their world now.

The one time she had actually listened to him had been the night to nearly get her killed. She had been hit by the car that she later learned took her away from Daryl that night. Away from the one constant in her life, the only one she had left.

* * *

 

Daryl couldn't figure why she kept looking at him that way. If she was trying to make him feel like shit, it sure as hell was working. He didn't say anything though. He knew he had more than earned himself a place on her shit list. He'd lost her after all. He'd told her that he'd protect her and when the chips were down he had failed her miserably. Had failed them all.

He wanted to ask her. Wanted to ask her who hurt her. How had she gotten the scar on her cheek? It had enraged him when he'd seen it. He had gone by her, hugged her like everyone else but he didn't say anything. He didn't trust his traitorous mouth to speak in her presence, not when his emotions were running so high and he was subject to her outright rejecting him if he told her how much he'd missed her. How she'd been right the whole time. They were all alive. Well most of them anyway but Daryl pushed that thought away.

They were at an impasse he figured. She was sitting on her front step and he was heading out the door when this current stare-down started. He got so pissed off all the sudden that when she got up to go in the house, he opened his mouth and the words spilled out of him. "Greene, come over here." He spoke up only a little because while he had no neighbors on this side of the street, he had no way of knowing if Maggie and Glenn were inside the house or not.

His eyes met hers and he was guessing her surprised expression mirrored his own. She turned to face him slowly.

Beth couldn't believe her ears when she heard his voice call out her name. It was only her last name but she'd take it. She knew there was a lot of push and pull, give and take where Daryl was concerned. At least when it came to him being vocal or initiating a conversation.

Before she could even think it through she walked over to his porch and met him on the top step and followed his example as he sunk himself down to sit, his palms resting on his thighs.

They sat there for a long time. Long enough for Beth to wonder if she imagined that he had asked her to come over.

"I'm sorry." It was none of the things he thought he'd say but he guessed it was the most accurate.

Beth looked at Daryl in surprise as his eyes met hers. " _You're_ sorry?"

Daryl looked puzzled but he continued. "For telling you to go outside by yourself. That was always against our rules. We never talked about what to do if one of us was injured. I panicked. I should have never told you to leave me there. I know you're pissed at me and I don't blame ya."

Beth looked at him in shock. "Wait you're not mad at _me_?" She could hardly believe it. She began to rethink some of the looks he had been giving her. Now that she had perspective maybe she'd see something different.

"Why would I be mad?" Daryl couldn't figure this girl out sometimes. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair.

"For going out to the road. I know that's what you told me to do but you also told me a million times to stay off the main roads if we were ever separated." Beth looked at him her face awash in anguish and his heart broke.

He had to know then who had done what they had done to her. How she had gotten the scar on her face. He had to know if anyone had laid a hand on her so he could pray they were ushered into hell properly, by the jaws of a walker ripping them apart while they bled out into the ground. He needed to touch her and somehow, in that moment, he knew that she'd not shy away from his touch. Her eyes were too focused on him. He reached his hand up and grasped her chin to gently turn her head into an angle that would let him look at the mark on her face. He let his thumb brush lightly over the smooth column of her throat.

"Who did this?" Daryl's voice was low and ominous and Beth smiled at him.

"Ain't funny Beth. I need to know who did this." His eyes had flashed dark so Beth let him off the hook.

"It's just hard for me to imagine you beating up a car. You love 'em too much." Beth couldn't quite squelch the snort that erupted from her throat.  "It was the car that hit me that did this Daryl."

Daryl looked at her blankly for a moment and felt the corners of his mouth turn up in an honest to god smile, something he had not had in a while. "You always were a smartass, Beth. Good to see you ain't changed." Daryl regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Because he could see the subtle changes in her. Her smile once bright took a fraction longer to grace her face. The light in her eyes had dimmed somewhat and god help him, she looked nothing like the girl that left the farm. Her features were still soft as they ever were but they no longer held any qualities that made her seem like a teenager. The girl sitting beside him was not a girl but a woman. Any man would have to be blind not to notice. Hell, even Eugene had noticed. The old Daryl had almost emerged when Eugene had thoughtlessly whispered to Tara that Beth was hot. Tara had shot him a warning glance while Daryl had pretended not to hear.

Beth's eyes drew down to the ground then. She had changed. She regretted all the change in her sometimes. "I did change. Some anyway. Guess I got what I wished for." She gave him a wan smile. She knew he'd remember an earlier night on another porch. It seemed like lifetimes ago but the circumstances weren't all that different. They were here now, righting wrongs and forgetting the past. At least Beth hoped so, the bad parts at least. Those weeks away from them all, locked in the hospital, had not been easy on her. The people of the hospital had believed in the "greater good" and their messed up belief system had almost destroyed Beth's own. Almost.

But right now, on the cusp of spilling all of it to Daryl, the only person she felt she could tell any of these things to, she felt like he'd been the one who had been right. That there wasn't anything good out there to see anymore.

Daryl realized that his hand was still on her chin and he let it drop, just barely grazing her shoulder with his fingertips before letting it hang in the air for a moment and letting it rest in his lap, fingers still twitching to clutch her to him.

Beth brought her hand up to her cheek and then up to her forehead, lifting the hair there to show the other scar, a little deeper but more narrow. "You won't need to beat up anyone for this one either. I killed them. Killed _him_." Beth corrected herself, saying it quietly as if maybe if it was spoken in a softer voice the truth wouldn't be as harsh.

Daryl's eyes snapped to hers even as his fists clenched in his lap and he had to chant in his mind in an effort to keep from grabbing up his bow and going hunting. For what he didn't know. Most of the squirrels around this part of the district had migrated back to the woods that edged the safe zone. "Him?" The thought of someone putting their hands on Beth nearly burned him alive like lava coursing through this veins. "He hurt you?"

Beth knew what he was asking and she was glad that at least, for this, she could tell him what he wanted to hear and it was the truth. She shook her head. Bastard Officer Gorman had taken the cake for assholes of this new world. Word had gotten around that he liked to "initiate" all the girls into the community. Joan had refused and it had gotten her killed. It was just poetic justice that his end had been precipitated by the woman tearing his throat out with her teeth, eyes glazed and opaque from death and decay.

He would have died anyway with the knife wound Beth had inflicted into his femoral artery. Daryl had shown her that vulnerable spot long ago and she hadn't forgotten. She knew it was the only thing that kept her from getting raped that night. Her heart still shivered in fear with the thoughts of it and she could still remember how his hands had felt on her. She forced away that feeling of dread and disgust if nothing else than to reassure Daryl that it hadn't been _that_ bad.

"It wasn't anything I couldn't handle." Daryl's hands were smoothing over an imaginary crease in his jeans and at this point, he would have a hole in them soon. Beth moved her hand over to his leg and daringly put her hand over his. He immediately turned his palm over as if his skin was hungry for her touch and he had been waiting on this all along. Then it feels like he is pulling away and her heart nearly breaks but then she realizes he is pulling her to her feet and into his house.

She follows him, curious more than anything else. He has never been this forward with her before. When she thinks about it though she realizes that isn't true. Back at that lovely funeral parlor he had been more and more forward with her, touching her arm or her back or her hand. The looks too. As he pulled her down beside him on the sofa she took in his gaze and realized that she had been wrong about his looks lately too. They mirrored the ones of the funeral home. They mirrored her own.

"Daryl why would you think that I'd blame you? It wasn't your fault." She waited patiently while he gnawed on his thumb.

It was getting dark already and it was dim inside his house but she could make out every emotion plain on his face when he looked at her. "It wasn't your fault either, Beth."

Something broke inside her then, like the wretched dam broke, the one that she wouldn't let breach the whole time she'd been away from him. She had had to be strong. But now all the fight to maintain that composure seemed pointless.

"We all have jobs to do. We don't get to be upset." She sobbed at the last word and shook her head at him furiously, willing away the tears, willing away the pain that was coming to claim its place. She had shoved it away for so long and now it was demanding its presence to be recognized.

Daryl felt the tug on his heartstrings in that moment, looking at her crying and repeating the words she had often said before. The only thing now was she didn't believe them. Sometimes they had to cry. He knew he had. He had cried like a little bitch the night they had gotten here and he had seen she was indeed safe and sound. Just like they had all tried to tell him she was in one way or another. They never came out and said it. They knew better than to call him out on his feelings. But Beth wouldn't shy away from that. He knew it. Right now though, she was crying her heart out and he reached for her and pulled her against him. She buried her face in his chest and he felt the wet of her tears immediately as she sobbed against him. He brought his hands up to her back and he finally felt like he was home.

He wept with her even as he hated the tears that fell onto her perfect blonde head. After several long minutes she pulled away. "No one will want me now." He had thought his heart had done all the breaking that it could do but he was wrong. That Beth Greene could think that someone wouldn't want her was absurd. He reached down for the second time that night and tilted her chin up. "Look at me. It don't matter."

"It does matter." Her eyes flickered with determination. "I used to be vain. Maybe I still am if I care about something as stupid as scars. None of it should matter. But they're ugly." Beth had always thought herself to be the pretty one.

"You're fuckin' beautiful. Don't you ever say otherwise." The fierceness surprised even him.

Even as her heart thrilled a little at his words, she knew he was just saying that to make her feel better. She shrugged.

He reached up and began unbuttoning his flannel shirt. Beth's eyes went wide. "Daryl?"

As he eased the shirt from his shoulders and turned around she realized what he was trying to do. His shirt fell to the couch and she resisted the urge to reach out and trace her fingers along the lines she had seen so often but only in a glancing manner because she knew how sensitive he was about them. But after everything they had shared between that moonshine shack and this little row house, this was the final layer of the onion peel.

"It's just skin Beth. Just something else that makes us who we are." He turned back around and faced her. "Didn't you say it? That I gotta stay who I am and not who I was. I did it. You taught me that Beth. That I could change. So you've got a couple scars. It just makes you a badass like me." He dared to lean towards her in his shirtless state, and nudge her arm with his shoulder.

She looked at him and smiled sheepishly and then the most unexpected thing happened. She laughed.

He laughed with her. Her face splitting into that grin he had fallen in love with in the first place was everything to him. "I hate what you went through. Wish I could change it. But you're here now. That's everything." He looked at her taking in his words and he faltered. "Right?"

Beth moved her hand from his lap and mimicked his earlier movements, cupping her hand around his jaw. "You are an amazing man Daryl Dixon." She said.

He snorted derisively. He shrugged. "Somebody changed me." He met her eyes then, her baby blues boring into his and he didn't care that his soul was hanging out, bleeding into her palm.

Beth shook her head gently. "This Daryl was there all along. I just let you know it was okay for him to exist." She loved the feel of his scruff under her fingers, loved the way it prickled into soft flesh there.

His eyes burned in that moment, that validation that she always gave him even though he didn't feel like he deserved it. He knew he probably didn't deserve any of it, not by a mile, but he didn't care because it was her. Beth. _His_ Beth. She accepted him even when he wasn't the man who was sitting with her here now.

She dropped her hand to her lap and he missed the warmth of her touch immediately. He didn't realize his lips parted in that moment and he had never intended it to happen but he dipped his head and his lips claimed hers. He gave no thought in that moment if this was the right time for him to be doing something like this. His hands found their way to each side of her head as he thread his fingers through her hair. Her lips were warm and soft and molded to his like they were meant for that purpose. Her lips parted under his and he was so fuckin' out of practice so he slowly slid his tongue barely inside her mouth and she sighed as he licked along her lower lip and sucked it between his own lips gently, before slowly pulling away.

Beth had been kissed before. Plenty of times. But no one had ever kissed her with the tenderness and reverence with which Daryl just had. She smiled at him her face hurting with the wideness of it. "Daryl Dixon, I never thought I'd see the day you'd lay one on me like that. I liked it."

He shrugged. "Figure time ain't been on our side so far. Better make the best of it." He was rewarded with a smile from her. She pressed her lips to his this time. This kiss was softer and somehow sweeter, Daryl thought. He should have guessed that she would be good at this too.

"Make the best of it huh?" She grinned. She knew he was referring to their drunken night in that shack.

He nodded. And they did make the best of it. Just kissing and whispering, fingers intertwined well into the night. They fell asleep in each other's arms and for the first time in a very long time, neither woke up screaming in the night.

Beth woke up briefly once, thinking about how lucky they were to be alive and to be with each other. Against all odds they had found their way back to one another. One world had ended but theirs had just barely started to spin its way around the sun.


	2. I Have Seen Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look back into Beth's time at Grady....possible trigger warning for SA

 

_" **I wish I could tell you how lonely I am.  How cold and harsh it is here.  Everywhere there is conflict and unkindness.  I think God has forsaken this place.  I believe I have seen hell and it's white; it's snow white."  - Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South)**_

 

 

_White. Everything was white. White walls. White bed, white sheets, even her skin was pale, pale white, the cast on her right arm was white. She wiggled it around and other than the stiffness of the cast, her arm felt fine. How long had she been in this half-awake dreamland where things seemed pure but still hummed with a certain evil in the shadows. She felt that sinister undertone the moment her eyes were opened. She was clearly in a hospital. She stood at the window and something was not right._

_Something had gone terribly wrong in the hospital. Something had gone terribly wrong in their whole world. And it all came back to her then, her mama, the farm going up in flames, fleeing in the night, the prison, and her poor sweet daddy, his head lolled to the side._

_Oddly enough, she didn't see the red this time, the bright crimson river that poured from his neck wound, spreading over the fabric, seeping slowly and marring the already torn canvas of her heart with anguish and despair. She just saw the white of her father's beard, the whites of his eyes as he shut them for the last time._

_She tried not to think too much on what might have happened later. If his eyes might have reopened, the whites gone hazy with the blue, opaque mindless pools of hunger for flesh. It was too horrifying to contemplate._

_Looking out over the city, destroyed by the disease that had eaten away at their society, their normalcy, their civility until there was nothing left but this desolate city, overgrown by wild and overrun by the dead, she felt like she knew exactly how the once burgeoning landscape had felt. She remembered the last moments before it all went black. She remembered white wings stretched across the broad shoulders of a man who was as much a mystery to her as the meaning of life._

_She remembered most of all, the blinding white that came before the black. It might be why it was so startling the green coming for her. So incredibly stupid that she should associate something as mundane as a lollipop with something so sick, so phallic that it made the bile rise up in her throat. The sickening sweet apple taste coating her tongue in bitter lies. Then his face rose up before her, thick features, the stench of evil apparent in his stare. She felt his hands on her then and her ears were filled with a pounding like she could hear the very beat of her heart as it tried to escape where she was. As her mind tried to escape it. She would just go somewhere else. You had to put it away._

 

The pounding persisted and she bolted upright beside Daryl. A dream. It had been a dream. But it was real. She ran her hands down over her face and felt the wet there and hated herself for it. She hated that it could touch her. Hated that _he_ could touch her even in her sleep. He was dead and he still had the power to hurt her.

"What the hell?" Daryl grumbled beside her and rose up to pad over to the door, where the incessant pounding was coming from, grabbing his bow by the door just in case. He didn't figure he'd ever feel safe without it, not now; not after all they had been through.

He opened the door to five feet, eight inches of brunette fury.  _Maggie_. Fucking hell, he should have thought to tell Beth to let Maggie and Glenn know where she was. He let his head fall forward for a minute, garnering strength before opening the door a shade so she could see his face at least.

"Is she here?" Maggie strained to peek up over his shoulder.

Daryl nodded. "Mmhm." He hummed his response, bringing his hand up to rub over his face. Maggie was staring at him when he looked back at her. He knew she expected him to answer her unspoken question and that was, what was going on between him and her sister. He knew she probably knew already and she was damned nosy but she hadn't had the balls to ask him yet.

"She okay?" Maggie's brow was furrowed with concern but he couldn't bring himself to let her in.

"I'm fine, Maggie." Beth's small but firm voice came from behind him.

He stepped aside, a sigh on his lips as he let Maggie slip in past him. He stood at the door, uncertain what the protocol was for being caught in the middle of the night with someone's baby sister.

"You coming home then?" Maggie wasn't coming right out and saying it, but Beth knew what she was asking.

Beth's chin came up. She didn't know why but she didn't really want to be with her sister right now. She wanted to be here with Daryl. It was strange to think that he might know her better than her sister did. She wrapped her arms around her middle, the chill of the night creeping in through the door that Daryl stood there awkwardly holding open while Maggie declared her agenda.

Beth shook her head at her sister's question. "Not right now." She looked to Daryl and she didn't miss the upward twitch of his lips in response.

Maggie nodded slowly looking between the two of them and just leaned in and kissed Beth on the cheek. Beth reached out and hugged Maggie to her. "Love you Mags. I'm glad we're back together. But I just." Beth didn't finish her sentence and honestly right now she didn't feel like she should have to.

Maggie nodded again. "I know." She said softly and she turned to leave. As she reached Daryl, he looked at her hesitantly, peeking at her from beneath the fringe of his hair, half wondering if she was going to deck him when she walked past.

He was struck stupid for a moment when she leaned up, pressed her lips to his cheek and whispered. "Take care of her." He must be struck stupid to think that it meant anything. That she wasn't just talking of tonight. That she might be suggesting that whatever this was with Beth, she was giving her blessing. And it was sure as hell stupid the swell he got in his chest at the implications of that implied permission. The permission to lay a claim on her sister and all that went with it. That it might be okay if he put his hands on her. If he let his fingers rest on that hollow where her shoulder dipped down to her neck, which was one of his most favorite things about Beth.

He shut the door and turned to look at Beth and he saw something in her eyes that hadn't been there when they had fallen asleep. He strode over to her and brought his hand up to her face, grasping her chin firmly and tilting her face up towards his where he could peer into those baby blues.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, his voice gruff from sleep. Beth didn't want to meet his eyes. She didn't want to tell him that she wasn't handling things all too well. Now that she didn't have to think about the peril that they were all in. Now that she didn't have Pixie or the others to worry about getting to safety, her mind was now free to process it all. She wasn't supposed to look back and she didn't want to but evidently her brain had different ideas about what that really meant, like she was forced to watch a movie she never had a desire to see.

The images played over and over in her head and she couldn't seem to shake them. She just didn't know how. She finally met his eyes and she got lost in the stormy blue. "I hate him."

Daryl's eyes were clouded with confusion for a moment until the full weight of her words hit him. The guy at the hospital. He couldn't quite explain the boiling rage that ripped through him in that moment, threatening to consume him with a fire of hatred so heated it might burn a path straight to his heart. The pain in her eyes was piercing and like a dagger to his gut. He felt gutted and he wanted to gut the guy that put that look in her eyes. His Beth had never looked like that before. His? Yes, he supposed that was how he had come to think of her. As his.

At the prison, she had been Hershel's and Maggie's. She had been Judith's. If he really thought about it, she had been Rick's too. Every part of them had a part of her whether it was her gentle ways with Ass Kicker, her reverence when she looked at her father, the teasing between her and Maggie. But later, when they were on their own for all those weeks, she had just been his. _His Beth._

He took her small hand, so fragile, her bones like that of a bird's, into his large ruddy palm and led her back to the sofa, making sure she was comfortable before sitting back down beside her. She was sitting cross-legged facing him, her hands playing with the imaginary lint on the couch.

"What did he do to you Beth? I gotta know." Daryl reached over and his heart jumped at the slight flinch of her hand just before he took it in his own again and threaded their fingers together. That bastard had put his hands on her. If he….he didn't let himself think it. She had said that she didn't let it get that far but maybe he had misunderstood. He felt a churning in his gut that sparked the rage that had him wanting to go hit something. He thought about what Beth had told him once. That he could "beat up walkers" if he wanted. That was something he would welcome right now. He never thought he'd wish for the ample supply of dead they had before they'd crossed into the walls of the safe zone.

Beth looked at him, her eyes swimming with tears, blocking her vision and she furiously wiped them away. She hated that she was crying.

_I don't cry anymore Daryl._

What a damn lie that had been, she thought.

"Did he- did he rape you?" He hated saying the words. Hated that something like that could ever touch her. That anyone had tried to touch her. If he could, he'd go back to that damn hospital and find his corpse and beat the hell out of him just for shits and giggles.

She shook her head. "No. He didn't. But he raped a lot of other women there." She didn't mention Jamie then. What she had told her happened one night when Officer Gorman and his friend had come to her hospital room. Best as Beth could tell was that Jamie had been in the locked ward of the hospital like Beth had been when she had first woken up. It had been a mental ward before the turn; that was the only explanation for hospital room doors that locked and the heavy fire door that separated it from the rest of the facility.

"But he put his hands on you." Daryl stated it as he held her hand that she had begun to squeeze every once in a while.

Beth couldn't meet his eyes as she nodded her head ever so slightly. If she didn't meet his eyes, he wouldn't have to see the things she had seen. He wouldn't be able to see how much she had changed and how much she was not the same girl she was before. She wasn't even sure _who_ she was anymore.

"None of this should matter." She looked at him, a fiery rage pulling at her core. "All that should matter is where we are now." She waited a moment, her voice thick with the tears that threatened to ruin all this for her, for them. "But it _does_ matter. It matters." It must or she wouldn't be feeling the emptiness she felt right now.

Daryl nodded even as his heart felt like it was rent in two seeing how broken she seemed. "It matters if it's something you dreamed about."

Her eyes snapped to his as if surprised to realize that he knew she had been dreaming before Maggie came to the door. "'Ya ain't the only one with nightmares." His fingers found their way to the soft tumble of blonde curls at her shoulder. He moved her hair back from her face, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her. "Trick is to not let 'em creep into your daydreams."

Beth's heart skipped three beats and she closed her eyes against his touch, so rough and so perfect at the same time. She nodded. His words were like a balm to her pain-scorched heart. She wanted to tell him all about it. She wanted to tell him all the ways it had fucked her up and the ways that it hadn't but for now she just lived in the moment. That Daryl Dixon was so intuitive did not surprise her. The fact that he felt comfortable enough with her to express it; well that blew her away. "That makes sense. My daydreams are pretty good these days. Can't have anything ruining them." She looked up at him and took in his smirk.

"Daydreams, huh?" He couldn't keep from smiling right now if he tried. So she thought about him. It was only fair really considering how much time he spent with his head in the clouds about her.

She nodded the stupid grin still plastered on her face. "Yep. They're all about this guy I met. He's real rough around the edges but you get to know him and you find out he's a real softie."

"Sounds like an asshole to me." He quipped.

She shook her head. "Nope. He used to come across that way. You just gotta get to know him to love him." She realized what she said then and blushed furiously.

Daryl's heard thudded in his chest at her words. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if it was right but he leaned forward and met her lips with his, tentatively, clumsily. Because so help him he wasn't ready for her to say those three words to him any more than he was ready to say them to her. They might be true but he just wasn't ready yet. It might be his undoing. They were safe behind the walls now but that could change at any moment. So yeah, he made a dumbass move and kissed her, hoping like hell she'd slap him because it was what he deserved anyway.

She put her palms flat against his chest at first gripping the shirt he had finally donned again sometime before they went to sleep earlier, then pulling him to her more firmly, kissing him with her whole soul.

"I don't ever want to stop kissing you." His eyes went wide as he spoke. He couldn't quite believe he had let those words escape, any more than Beth could have prevented her slip of tongue.

"Then don't." She whispered it just before putting her lips back on his and leaning into him. Kissing Daryl was the best thing in life as far as she was concerned. He didn't want to stop kissing her? Well the feeling was mutual. He could kiss her right into forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for letting me share this story, xoxoxo


	3. You Have to Put it Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Daryl talk about what happened at Grady.

"You remember where ya were when you crossed out of Georgia?" Beth ran her thumb along Daryl's hand as they walked towards the park. This had become their nightly routine, going to the park, holding hands, Daryl pushing her on the swings and stealing kisses from one another. It was a good life, in Beth's book. She remembered writing it all down once and those words coming back to haunt her, but being here with Daryl now she thought maybe they could be true again.

" _We can live here. We can live here for the rest of our lives."_

Beth settled herself into the swing and waited while Daryl got behind it and started to push.

"Yeah, I remember." Daryl's voice was gruff and his hands were firm on her back, the easy cadence of the swing matched his voice. "I was walkin' with Rick. We had just cleared out a place a half a day prior, we had lost Sasha." He stopped, remembering the blood-bath at that department store where they had gained the supplies they sought but lost another family member.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know her well but she seemed like good people." Beth said softly.

"She was. Anyway, we got to the sign and I stopped because I remembered ya know?" He pushed her a bit higher on the swing, letting her soar up in the air a bit higher with each thrust and then the next push he almost tried to stop the swing, remembering the fresh twist of the knife in his chest when he'd seen that sign. 'You are now Leaving Georgia, come back and see us soon.'

"We were crossing into South Carolina and it just seemed wrong that you weren't there too, making that journey with me. 's stupid I guess. Wasn't like we was goin' on vacation or somethin'." He said, the swing slowing to a stop and Beth extracted herself from the swing and came to face him.

Beth put both hands on his chest, let her fingers splay out over the hard planes, the cool of his vest making her even more aware of his proximity to her, to this moment. "I wish I'd been there with ya too." She whispered, looking up into his face.

Daryl looked down at her. "What about you?" He tilted his head to the side, taking in how her hair shone in the dusk out here, the fading light of the day slipping over the horizon. He put one hand on her shoulder, threading his fingers lightly through her hair as she spoke.

"I had stopped in a convenient store, was sensing that we were getting into different territory and wanted to update my map. Figured out early that pinpointing different landmarks on maps was easier if you had something to go on. Lots of rest areas and convenient stores have 'you are here' pinned to a map and it's easy to figure things out from there." She looked up at Daryl. She hadn't meant to tell him all that but his proximity was making her nervous and she got to talking when she was.

Daryl couldn't help his chest puffing out at that. "That's my girl." He said, flushing a bit at his own words and then jutted his chin out. She didn't contradict what he said and it made his heart flutter that she didn't. His girl. Yeah, he guessed she was that. And if that's what all this hand-holding and kissing was about, then that was fine by him too.

Beth looked into his eyes, those stormy blues nearly her undoing, but she continued her story. "I saw a strange little sign. It said, Welcome to South Carolina, now Go Home. I remember thinking it was rude." Beth suddenly realized he was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Her eyes narrowed at him but he didn't appear to be laughing at her per se.

"I saw a sign like that once. Me and Michonne were out on a run. Back when everybody was sick. It said the same thing 'cept it was for Georgia." Daryl smiled at her.

"What are the chances?" Beth said, laughing with him, her fingers gripping the leather of his vest.

Daryl looked down at her. "Yeah what are the chances." His expression faded into one of sorrow. "Beth, that time apart almost killed me. I thought you…." He didn't even think he could say the words right now. That after all she had taught him he had thought the worst.

"Daryl it's okay. You had no reason to think otherwise. The fire." Beth let her voice trail off. It was one of many things they hadn't talked about yet. How he had come to think that she was gone forever. How he had thought life was over. That is until he had seen her back inside these very gates.

"I'm just glad you're here now." Daryl shuddered involuntarily and Beth gripped his vest tighter as he pulled her face towards his, his lips finding hers like an anchor.

Beth needed something to anchor her to this spot. Sometimes she felt the slip-slide of her heart on the inside and it felt like she just might melt away under all the heat that burned inside of the two of them for one another.

A breathless sigh escaped her lips as his tongue flitted out and traced the seam along her lips, prompting her to open her mouth and she complied, his tongue invading hers, licking inside her mouth, tasting her and the kiss still left her with wanting as he finally pulled his lips away, kissing his way down her jaw. She turned her head to the side and his lips immediately found purchase on the smooth pale white column of her throat. He brought his lips back to hers hungrily, his hands threading through her hair on each side to cradle her head at the back and Daryl angled his mouth to fit hers more perfectly, groaning at how perfect her lips were against his.

He felt her hands come up to wind around his neck and her fingers thread through the hair at the nape of his neck and as he flicked his tongue back into her mouth again he heard her groan even as he felt it inside his own mouth and it released some kind of deep-seated need in him that he didn't even know he possessed. He pulled his hands from the back of her head and moved them down her body, letting them come to rest just under her breasts, his thumbs just barely brushing against her.

Beth leaned her body into Daryl's and she couldn't stop the moan that slipped from her lips as he brought his hands to her waist and grazed his thumbs on the underneath side of her breasts. She arched her body into him and instinctively brought one hand to his hip, pinning herself to him even as she flicked her hips forward, involuntarily grinding the lower half of her body into his as he deepened their kiss again.

She should have guessed what would happen next. Their kisses had never grown that urgent. Their hands had never strayed and they certainly had never given way to the moans that had just ripped from both of their throats.  But just as she had expected, when Beth ground herself against Daryl, he jumped and she jumped in response and just like that, the spell was broken.

They were left breathless, staring at one another, wondering how they got there in the first place. Beth wondered if they would ever get there again. "I'm sorry." She whispered. She felt like it might be her fault somehow.

"Stop." He said, giving her one of his famous looks that had her rethinking her entire existence because that's the way it was now with her and Daryl. "Don't apologize. I just ain't-." He looked at her, feeling like an idiot and just knowing that she probably had more experience than he did. She was always so sure of herself. And he was- well, he was Daryl.

"I ain't done any of this before." He admitted, looking at her.

Beth studied him as he looked at her, his hair way too long and peeking at her from beneath his bangs as he spoke. "The kissin'? Or the….stuff that comes after the kissin?" Beth flushed. She couldn't help it. She may have grown up on a farm and her sister may be jaded to stuff like this but Beth would forever blush red when it came to how things in the body worked.

He looked at her and squinted. "Truth?"

She nodded. "Always." She smiled faintly.

"All of it." He took a deep breath. "I mean I done stuff I'm sure. But I don't remember none of it. Life with Merle was just one party after another. Never did nothin' with anybody when I _wasn't_ wasted out of my mind. So I remember the mornings after. Just none of the other stuff." He looked at her uncertainly, hoping she could guess what he was saying.

"So you've done things but you don't remember them?" Beth reached down and took his hands into each of hers, threading their fingers together.

Daryl nodded at her. "Fucked up, right?"

Beth shook her head slowly. "No, it's not. It makes sense." She looked at him sadly. "It's kinda the same with me. I made out with Jimmy and Zach. But that's as far as it went. But the hospital? I don't know Daryl. I keep having these dreams." She looked away, feeling Daryl's grip on her fingers tighten slightly at the implication of her words. She squeezed right back and looked at him again, her eyes meeting his and daring him to look away. He didn't.

"I need you to hear me. What they did or didn't do doesn't matter now." Daryl's grip got tighter and she squeezed as hard as she could until he backed off but his breathing was still rapid.

Daryl forced the air into his lungs and back out, over and over again concentrating on the grip of Beth's fingers around his own. He knew she was telling him something happened to her in there. He knew she was trying to tell him it didn't matter but it did. It mattered to him. It mattered that someone had put their hands on her.

Beth thought on what they had done or had tried to do to her at that hospital. The dreams made it hard to differentiate reality. So much had been taken from all of them already. It just didn't seem right that someone could try to take that too, something that she had been keeping safe for such a long time. At some point, she knew something had broken inside her wondering about all the evil the world contained now. Maybe some of it was there before and it was just easier now to see them. So much good had been removed from the world that the bad stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb.

In that place, where nearly all her power and control had been stripped from her, the evil had pulsed beneath the surface. Beth had often felt if you stepped the wrong way the façade would crack and all the ugly would come spilling out threatening to stain her feet and eats its way towards her heart.

"I put it away Daryl." She told him and he looked at her. His grip relaxed on her fingers and his breathing evened out.

" _You have to put it away."_ She had told him that once. And now here they were and here was Beth Greene, taking her own advice. It was just like her to so something like that. Turn the whole world around and make it make sense again. Seemed like she'd been doing that for him for as long as he could remember.

"I don't like to think of you being hurt." Daryl said, his voice coming out barely more than a whisper. He brought his hands up to her shoulders, his fingers caressing the bare expanse of skin that was exposed by her sweater slipping down. He reluctantly dragged her sweater up back up where it belonged and smiled softly at her, remembering the first hug they had ever shared. He could tell by looking at her that she remembered it too. He knew they were done talking about what happened to her for now. She would reveal it to him a small piece at a time he suspected. Much like he revealed his demons to her.

"Daddy always said when you care about people, hurt kind of is part of the package." Beth said.

Daryl nodded. "Yeah I guess that must be true then." He didn't know exactly how to put it to words how he felt about her but now was a good time to try. "I care about you Beth." It was more than he'd ever told a living soul.

Beth beamed one of those smiles at him when he said that and it nearly knocked him over where he stood. He hadn't seen one of those smiles on her since before he'd lost her. His heart clenched at the thought of it. But he'd put that smile on her face. His words had. And he hadn't even said all that much. He smiled back at her.

"You care about me huh?" Beth teased, her smile still broad.

"Well maybe _more than_ care about ya." Daryl flushed and his words faltered at the end but he'd gotten out that much. It was enough.

Beth didn't think it was possible for her to smile this much again but as Daryl slipped out that confession her smile broadened. "More than huh?" She was starting to sound like a parrot but she didn't care. Daryl Dixon had just declared his feelings for her.

"Don't push your luck Greene." He grinned as he brought his lips to hers.

As he broke the kiss, Beth could swear she heard him sigh. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, the swing swaying, forgotten in the background. She wound her arms around his waist, holding on, never wanting to let go. It was a good life, Beth thought. A _good_ life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for letting me share this story, xoxoxo


	4. Song are Like Tattoos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Daryl have dinner with the whole group, then Daryl has an important question for Beth.....

Beth looked around at all the familiar faces, her brain automatically skipping over the ones that weren't there, the ones everyone missed but was too afraid to break this tenable hold on happiness to bring it up. They needed to heal from their multiple losses; they just weren't ready. Beth was starting to understand that might have something to do with why Maggie hadn't ever looked for her; why she had just seemingly given her up for dead. It had hurt like hell ever since she had realized that but now she was starting to see that Maggie maybe didn't have a choice. Maybe it had hurt too bad to think she would have to move on without her sister.

She looked across the room to the woman in question who smiled her way, a little nervously. She sensed that there was a rift between them too, but it had become this elephant in the room that no one wanted to admit existed. For now though, Beth was content to let it slide. She looked at the rest of her extended family, having gathered for a meal together in Rick and Michonne's house they shared with Abraham, Rosita and Tara along with Carl and Judith, of course.

Rick stepped up and cleared his throat. "I'm glad everyone could make it. It's been a long time since all of us were in one place together for more than a minute." He paused as everyone laughed a bit. "I think it goes without sayin' that we're all happy to be together again. We lost a lot of people we love. People we're always gonna miss, but we got a chance at maybe makin' a new start. I still don't know if we can trust this place but right now it's all we got. We got four walls and a roof and three squares a day. Ain't a bad take away in my book." He looked to Daryl who nodded in his direction.

"We're lucky. We get to start over." Daryl stepped beside Beth, his arm brushing against hers.

Beth could swear that she felt her arm literally tingle when Daryl sidled up to her, his skin connecting with hers in warmth. She took in a breath while waiting for her pulse to return to normal. She was having a harder and harder time of that lately and she felt the corners of her mouth twitch up before glancing about. They hadn't really told anyone about their relationship yet though she pretty much guessed most of them had figured it out by now. Which was a good thing since Beth hadn't really figured it out herself. Neither had Daryl but they were working at it. That's what counted.

"Everyone help yourselves. Don't forget to thank your chefs. These ladies have been workin' all day to make sure we had a feast tonight." Rick nodded to Beth, Tara and Rosita.

Beth spoke up. "And Daryl for the squirrel. We couldn'ta made the stew without it."

Everyone gave a hearty agreement for Beth's words and then everyone disbanded for a bit getting their plates fixed with the hearty stew thick with squirrel, crushed tomatoes, canned carrots and potatoes. Beth had found some spices in the garden behind the house and it had added quite a bit of flavor. She had also been able to scare up some cornmeal and managed to make corncakes to go with the stew.

Beth finished moving through the line and moved across the living room to the far wall. It was devoid of any furniture and Beth eased herself to the floor, settling her plate on her lap. Michonne had Judith, feeding her bits of corn cake, which the little girl was examining carefully, an interesting expression on her face. Beth laughed.

Michonne looked to her, smiling broadly. "She's not sure she likes it."

Rick sat down on the other side of Michonne, laughing. "Her mama made those corn cakes, remember when she we was out on the road before the prison."

Beth laughed. "Maybe she remembers how awful they were."

Rick smiled faintly at the memory. Lori would have loved them all gathering here like this. She thrived on events like it. "She would have loved all this."

Daryl watched the exchange. He hadn't really known Lori all that well and he hated that she had gone out the way she had. It was odd remembering the ones that weren't there with them.

As he carried his plate into the living room he noted where Beth was sitting and wondered if it was okay if he went and sat by her or if the others would say something about it. He thought about the alternative and that was sitting next to Abraham on the sofa. Beth would be all alone across the room and he decided that he had spent far too long away from her. He headed to where she was sitting and she looked up at him and beamed him one of her 1000 watt smiles. It was then that he knew he had made the right decision because he found himself smiling back at her like the fool he was. He had to be a fool to be behaving the way he was around her. It was almost like they were back at the funeral home again when it was just the two of them.

They had gotten somewhat comfortable around each other lately. They were still just kissing and holding hands, it hadn't gotten any further than that; well not really, Daryl amended in his mind. There was the time a few nights ago when they had gotten to kissing and their hands had started to wander.

His hands had gone to her waist and he'd looped his thumbs inside her belt loops and pulled her roughly against him. They'd both been breathless by then, Beth moaning into his mouth and her fingers went to his belt and then they both froze and neither moved a muscle, their lips stilled against the other. He had relaxed his grip on her hips and she had moved her hands back up his chest, their unspoken safety zone and resumed kissing, eventually breaking away to breathe.

Daryl thought about kissing Beth all the time. He never wanted to stop kissing her, he had told her that. She had told him to keep on that one time but he hadn't had the nerve to kiss her for more than a few minutes, mostly because of all the flip flops his heart would do and because of the other more obvious physical reaction which scared the hell out of him if he was going to tell the truth. Hell, he felt guilty sitting her beside her thinking about how much he ached when he kissed her. Never mind what he thought her old man might think of him putting his dirty redneck hands on his baby girl.

He finished his stew and sat back, his plate empty and his stomach full for the third time that day. That was probably one of the hardest things to get used to, the fact that he didn't have the daily hunger pains anymore. He did if he got busy and forgot to eat but it was not because they didn't know where their next meal was coming from. Living inside the walls might make him uneasy at times but one thing was for sure, they didn't have to go hungry.

Beth noted that everyone had gotten quiet and were talking amongst themselves. She looked at Daryl and met his eyes. He had been looking at her again. She drew her legs up and crossed them at the ankles, turning towards him slightly.

He smiled at her. "The stew was good. Bout the best thing I've eaten in a while."

She nudged his arm with her shoulder. "That's what you said last night when I made you that spaghetti."

Daryl nudged her back and smirked. "I meant it then too." He did. The woman had a way in the kitchen that was for sure. She had a knack for cooking like he'd never seen and at this rate with three squares a day and them not on the run constantly, he'd be bigger than a house by winter. "I'm gonna get fat."

Beth giggled.

"It ain't funny. You still gonna wanna be seen with me then." He grinned at her. He loved seeing her smile again but making her laugh? It was like a drug to him. He strove for it, he realized. He had missed it. Missed the way she would laugh when she was telling him something or even him at times. She was the only person who laughed at him that he didn't find himself flying off the handle. Somehow the way Beth Greene viewed his flaws as funny made his thoughts lighter and he could see the humor in it too.

Beth smiled at him softly and put her hand on his arm, her skin warmer than he could have imagined as cold as it was in the room. They all tried to conserve what little bit of firewood they had for the nights when they had to sleep. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easy."

He glanced over then at Michonne who was sending him knowing glances. She grinned at him and he just smirked and shook his head. He didn't need that woman trying to dissect what was going on between him and Beth. She seemed to sense that.

He looked at Beth. He wanted her to sing again. She hadn't in such a long time. He had been waiting for the right time but it never seemed to come. It made him want to kick himself for ever mocking her for her singing. She had the voice of an angel and he wondered why he didn't hear her humming all the time like he used to. "Why don't you sing somethin'?"

She looked around at the room. Everyone had gotten quiet but most had heard Daryl's question and they all awaited her response.

She laughed nervously and looked at Daryl. "No one wants to hear." She remembered saying those words another time. Her insecure words then might have rung true then but now it was more that Beth wasn't sure she wanted to hear herself sing. She hadn't in so long. Not since she left the hospital. She smiled faintly at Daryl but wasn't prepared at all for his words.

"I do. I want to hear." He whispered it and Beth was pretty sure the only people that heard him was Rick and Michonne. Rick looked at Daryl in surprise and he looked back to Beth who considered his words and was smiling at him.

Beth nodded. For Daryl, she would do it. He didn't ask for things easily and there was no way she was going to deny him this, no matter if she felt like she was ready to unveil that part of herself again. She thought for a moment of what she might sing and she briefly considered singing "We'll Be Good" a wave of nostalgia washing over her, but that song now just seemed like it was just for her and Daryl, a moment shared between the two of them.

She thought of how she had felt all that time on her own and how she felt now about looking at Daryl and wondered if he could possibly know how much he meant to her. In her way of thinking, he had saved her life. Had saved her so much from staying who she was, a little girl from a farm, to a woman who had survived.

Every single word Daryl had ever uttered to her had been tattooed on her skin, imprinted there for eternity or until her bones were turned to dust, whichever came first. She began to sing softly at first, her voice gaining strength as she closed her eyes, feeling the music with her whole heart.

_Blue_ _  
_ _Songs are like tattoos_ _  
_ _You know I've been to sea before_ _  
_ _Crown and anchor me_ _  
_ _Or let me sail away_ _  
_ _Hey Blue_ _  
_ _And there is a song for you_ _  
_ _Ink on a pin_ _  
_ _Underneath the skin_ _  
_ _An empty space to fill in_ _  
_ _Well there're so many sinking_ _  
_ _Now you've got to keep thinking_ _  
_ _You can make it thru these waves_ _  
_ _Acid, booze, and ass_ _  
_ _Needles, guns, and grass_ _  
_ _Lots of laughs_ _  
_ _Lots of laughs_ _  
_ _Everybody's saying that hell's the hippest way to go well_ _  
_ _I don't think so, but I'm_ _  
_ _Gonna take a look around it though Blue_ _  
_ _I love you_ _Blue_ _  
_ _Here is a shell for you_ _  
_ _Inside you'll hear a sigh_ _  
_ _A foggy lullaby_ _  
_ _There is your song from me_

As Beth finished the song she looked at Daryl and smiled softly as her voice faded out into the room. There was silence at first and then gradual reverent applause and murmurs of appreciation.

"Beth that was beautiful." Maggie didn't flinch at her choice of song. Daddy would have been appalled she knew all the lyrics in that song but Beth liked to think he had loosened up a little in death and maybe even his spirit could appreciate the crooning of Joni Mitchell through her own voice.

Daryl couldn't stop staring at her. She was so beautiful singing, her voice like that of some end of the world angel coming to claim him and he guessed in a way she had. She had claimed every part of him. He hated to use that word after Joe and his guys had distorted the word to a new world order, but it was the only thing that fit the way she had crawled under his skin and wedged her way into every corner of his thoughts. He guessed the thing that stunned him the most about it was that he didn't mind it; the way she was always at the forefront of his mind. It was getting harder and harder to imagine a time where Beth Greene wasn't the first thing he thought about when he woke up and the last face on his mind when he closed his eyes at night.

Beth was still looking at Daryl and he was studying her as if in some kind of trance. She whispered so as not to startle him too much. "I better get going home. They expect me at the school tomorrow morning." She was to start teaching a class of first graders the next day at the school four blocks away.

Daryl's eyes snapped to her figure getting up to clean their plates. "I'll walk you." He gingerly got up from the floor. He wasn't as young as he used to be, that was for sure and all the inactivity lately had made his old bones ache and the cold didn't help either.

They told everyone goodnight in a round of hugs. Beth paused in front of Maggie pulling her to her in a sudden hug. Maggie stiffened at first and then seemed to fall against Beth. They pulled away with tears in both their eyes. Neither said a word but their hug said enough. For now.

Daryl walked beside Beth down the sidewalk back to her house. Maggie and Glenn were staying to help clean up. He wondered if she would stay tonight as she had so often lately. It had gotten so both of them were more comfortable with her staying at his place. He had the extra room across the hall from his but he always gave her his bed and he stayed there. It had gotten so if Maggie couldn't find Beth at night she automatically knew that she was at Daryl's. She always checked and Daryl always said the same thing. "Yeah, I got her." He didn't know why he said it that way but he guessed it was his way of saying that he was taking care of her. He was watching over her. Just like when they were alone all those weeks, he had her back. Just like she had his. The thing was, he figured they still did. A weight settled over his chest but it wasn't a different kind of feeling. He kept coming back to the same thing. He loved her. He knew it like he knew there were walkers outside the walls of the city.

Just like he'd let her work her way under his skin, he had let his love for her work its way into his heart and he didn't know how to handle himself sometimes. He was afraid sometimes it might come spilling out of him whether he was ready for it or not.

As they got half way down the block, he moved his hand towards where hers was swinging at her side. He slid his palm against hers, her skin so soft against his callused hide and he linked their fingers together. He loved holding her hand; hers so delicate and his so much larger. He loved the way her fingers intertwined with his. He loved most of all how she did it without thinking about it. She did it often and most of all, she liked holding his hand.

She looked over and smiled at him. "I like holdin' hands with you." She had told him before.

He smiled back at her squeezing her fingers slightly. "I know." Because what else could he say to that. She knew he liked holding hers. Sometimes he wondered at his life and how much it had changed since the turn and then he thought that was nothing compared to how much it had changed since he had fallen for Beth.

"You gonna stay here tonight or?" He held his breath waiting on her answer as they approached his house.

She looked at him. "You want me to stay?"

"I always want ya to stay Beth. I sleep better." He turned to face her as they reached his door. He looked at her a little uncertainly at his admission. He figured she knew anyway that he didn't sleep when she wasn't under the same roof as him.

"I'll just go over and change in the morning before school." Beth remarked.

"Ya know you could-" Daryl stopped himself, his face flushing as he shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other.

Beth walked one step closer to him her face turned up to his. "No, finish what you were gonna say." She prodded gently. She smiled at him, knowing at once what he was going to ask her and she didn't know why but suddenly she was so giddy about it.

He shrugged. "Was thinkin' maybe it'd be easier if you just stayed here all the time." He looked down at her, his eyes meeting her gaze, the blues of her eyes almost sparking at him with her brilliant smile.

"Yeah?" She couldn't wipe the smile from her face if she tried right now.

"Yeah. You know, Maggie and Glenn might like havin' a house to themselves anyway. You know how those two can be." Daryl chortled at some distant memory.

She grinned at him. "Yeah, for Glenn and Maggie. It doesn't have anythin' to do with us."

He brought his hands up to either side of her face and looked into her eyes, fully meeting her gaze. "Seems like every decision I make has to do with us. Always will. Okay?"

Beth's eyes met his determined gaze and she brought her hands to his waist gripping tightly. She nodded. "Okay." She whispered as she closed her eyes, his lips meeting hers, softly at first and a whimper slipped past her lips as he thread his fingers through her hair to hold the back of her head, his tongue plundering her mouth and she met his kisses with equal fervor. As they began to get breathless they pulled away, Daryl's forehead pressed against hers.

"We're home. Ready to go in?" He said gruffly.

She pulled back to smile up at him. She nodded and they walked across the threshold. "Home." She echoed his words. She was home indeed. As she dressed for bed after an achingly long kiss goodnight to Daryl, she thought about what that meant. She thought about how they had thought they had found a home before, the prison and later, even the funeral home. She was still uneasy here but with Daryl across the hall, it made everything seem infinitely safer. She felt like she could nestle in and sleep and not worry about the world outside.

Across the hall, through the two walls that separated them, Daryl listened for the creak of the bed as she settled. He knew the moment she was settling down to go to sleep because the creak of her restlessness ceased. She was quiet and his own muscles began to unknot.

She had actually agreed to live with him. He knew others would think it was because of a different reason, but he didn't care. They could think what they wanted. It wasn't like that with him and Beth. At least not yet anyway. He didn't know when they'd be ready for that. He didn't know when _he_ would. He suspected though, like with everything else in their relationship it would creep up the both of them when they weren't expecting it.

Loving Beth was like that. Every moment was a surprise. In a world where life held few surprises anymore for Daryl Dixon, that was something. Hell, it was everything when he thought about. That's what it all came down to. Loving Beth seemed on the one hand like it was something that he never should have expected. Then at the same time, it seemed like this had been his destiny all along. Somehow, fate had lined it up and he'd never be able to figure it out, how he just seemed to have drifted through his whole life until the turn. After that, the events that happened seemed meant to bring him to this one moment in time. His purpose as far as he could tell. Loving Beth and all that went with it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue is by the lovely Joni Mitchell (1971)


	5. As You Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My little Bethyl tribute to The Princess Bride

Beth walked out of her classroom and slung her bag over her shoulder, heavy with books and several folders of worksheets Beth was going to go over to devise lesson plans for her small class of kindergarten through 3rd graders. They had broken the classes down to three teachers. One for Beth's class and the other two split the other grades up to age 15. School attendance at the moment was voluntary but most people in the community sent their children. Everyone craved the normalcy of the old world and sending your child off to school for the day? Well it didn't get any more normal than that, Beth thought. One of the perks of her job was that she could borrow books from the library any time she wanted. Currently there was a copy of The Princess Bride in her bag and she couldn't wait until later that evening after supper when she and Daryl were curled up on the sofa so she could read until the candlelight grew too dim. She would be glad when the days lengthened with approaching spring. She would be able to read much longer in the evenings.

Beth looked through the double doors of the school and saw him leaning against the railing, his crossbow sitting on the sidewalk by his feet. She smiled as she opened the door and approached him. She watched his face for a change in his expression and her heart flipped inside her chest at the small smile he gave her.

"Hey." Her grin was wide as she came right up in front of him, looking up into his face.

Daryl hadn't been waiting long. He had been working shoring up the walls on the north side of the city but as the sun started to get lower in the sky he had been unable to tear his thoughts from Beth and if she would be okay walking home on her own. He knew they were supposed to be safe now but she hadn't been back with them, with _him_ long enough for him to feel comfortable leaving her on her own. He knew it was irrational but he didn't care. So he'd made his way to the school and waited outside. He had received more than one strange glance from kids and parents alike as they slowly trickled out of the school at the end of the day.

"Hey yourself. You ready to go home?" He liked saying that to her, he realized. Home. It was something he had come to associated with Beth. After being separated for so long and now that they were reunited, the word had taken on a whole new meaning for him. He wondered if it did for her too.

She beamed that bright smile at him, swung her bag back over her shoulder and he was lost in that moment. He wanted to kiss her right then. Just bend her over his arm and dip her back and kiss her like he'd seen on some of the movies his mama used to watch back in the day. But he still sometimes had trouble working up the nerve to touch her in private, let alone when any passerby on the street could see them. No, he'd have to wait until they got home.

They set off down the block, making their way to their house. They had moved Beth's stuff in a few days ago and no one had said anything but they didn't have to. It was all in their curious glances and wordless stares. Maggie had opened her mouth on more than one occasion, presumably to question Beth about it but she always stopped, mostly because Glenn was there to nudge her gently or shoot her a look.

Beth knew Maggie didn't care about Beth shacking up with someone, least of all Daryl. Besides it wasn't like that with them anyway. At least, not yet. She knew it was about the rift between them. It was as if a trench had been dug and they had been each left on the other side, staring at the other and all that was between them, unsure of how to bridge the gap.

Her bag started to slip off her shoulder so she stopped and hoisted it back up, pulling at the strap at the top so it wouldn't put too much pressure on her shoulders.

"Need me to carry it?" Daryl couldn't help but notice she was struggling with the bag and he could kick himself for not offering sooner.

She looked over at him toting his crossbow on his back and imagined him suddenly toting her bright yellow shoulder bag with aqua stitching and she burst into a fit of giggles.

Daryl flushed at her laughter but couldn't help the upturn of his lips while watching her. Sometimes she was so damn pretty it struck him as odd that he was here flirting with Beth Greene and walking her home. _Their_ home. "Somethin' funny?"

Beth squelched her giggles hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings. She reached out her free hand to his arm at his side. "Just was imaginin' you carrying my girly bag on your shoulders along with your crossbow." She grinned.

He snorted. "Yeah. Well, it don't matter. I can still carry it if ya want." He thought about what Merle might say him carrying a girl's purse, Beth Greene's purse nonetheless. He shook his head to clear the thoughts. His brother crept into his mind at the oddest times.

Beth shook her head. "I'm okay. Besides we're almost there." She was right. They had reached their block and as they walked in the house, Beth thought of her life now and how different it was from before. Just a few months ago she had been at the hospital plotting a way out thinking there was no way she could find her family again and now here she was with the man she had thought of most while they were all apart, the only man she cared anything about. Sometimes Beth thought if it was just the two of them now, like they were back at the funeral home, and no one else ever, she'd bed happy.

* * *

Daryl looked at her all laid back on the sofa, her back resting against the sofa arm, her knees drawn up to her chest as she read, her hair fanned about her shoulders, the strands brushed to a fine sheen, the honeyed strands now picking up the glow from the candlelight.

He worked on his bolts, sharpening them to a fine point. He still went hunting sometimes but for the most part, his bow went largely unused, a stark contrast to his life just a few short days ago. They had fought their way to the safe zone and every mile had been hard won.

Every once in a while, Beth would look up and catch him staring at her and she'd smile, the corners of her mouth turning up and her eyes flaring at him like he'd done something good.

"The Princess Bride. Is it good?" Daryl had never been much of a reader but she looked like she was enjoying the book.

Beth looked up from her book in surprise and pulled it to her chest, the pages crinkling against her shirt. She was wearing one of Daryl's flannels and a pair of yoga pants and also a pair of his socks. She smiled to herself then focused her attention on his question.

"Is it good?" She grinned. "It's so good. It's just the most beautiful story about a princess and her farm boy and how much he loves her and it's everything you would want from a fairy tale. There are rodents of unusual size and fire swamps and princes and there's death but then he comes back to life and oh you just have to read it." Her face burned bright red as she realized she had been babbling on and on and he was just watching her and his eyes burned into her.

Beth stretched her legs out, very aware of her toes pressed against Daryl's thigh, but she never took her eyes off his as he reached down and pulled her feet into his lap, her heels settling right between his thighs. He gently stroked her ankles and Beth's breath caught in her throat and she found herself a little bit warmer than she was a few minutes ago. All because of his fingers ghosting across her ankle. Every once in a while his fingers would make contact with bare skin and each time she felt like she might crawl out of her own skin with anticipation.

Beth cleared her throat. "Why don't I read it to you? Used to be Friday nights like this, couples would sit and watch a movie or television." The word slipped past her lips without her permission. She guessed they were a couple. They hadn't defined what they were to one another yet. She searched Daryl's eyes for any hint of annoyance at her referring to them as a couple but she found that he was giving her that intense stare again, the very one he'd given her that night when she'd been taken away from him, away from a life like this. Everything happens for a reason, she reminded herself.

Daryl found himself nodding at her suggestion. The thoughts of her voice speaking to him, telling him some tall tale from between the pages she liked to hide her pretty nose in, set his heart to a regular rhythm, one he was comfortable with for a change. "Ain't like there's no TV here." He grinned at her, an honest to God grin.

 

Beth beamed at him and leaned up and pecked him on the lips before settling back into her spot and opening the book to the first page. His hands drifted back to her legs and began stroking her lower leg now.

…"The Year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world….." She read him all about how Buttercup had been just of average beauty, nothing really special.

"Her name was Buttercup?" Daryl interrupted. He snorted. "Thought she was a Princess or some shit."

Beth looked at him primly. "She is a princess. Well she will be. Do you want to hear the story or not, Mr. Dixon?" She teased him.

Daryl's fingers stilled on her leg as she addressed him by his last name. It reminded him of their moonshine shack, back when they could barely tolerate each other. "Why you call me that?" He asked even as he nodded. He wanted to hear it. He liked her voice when she was reading and he could picture it all happening in his head. But first he wanted to know why she insisted on calling him by his last name.

Beth shrugged her shoulders. "It's sexy." She looked at him boldly, knowing she was treading a thin line. They usually left things like that unspoken between them. "Does it bother you?"

Daryl stared at her. Well, fuck when she put it like that, hell no, it didn't bother him. Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "'S alright." He smirked. "Okay, ain't gonna interrupt no more." He gestured to the book with one hand, letting his other trace lazy zig-zags on her leg. It was the most wonderful thing in the world being able to touch Beth, not having to ask if it was okay. She just let him know it was by leaning into his touch or giving him that look that said she felt it too. She felt all this between them just as much as he did.

Beth read on, telling all about how the farm boy Westley had fallen in love with Buttercup and she with him but neither knew it until Buttercup became bitterly jealous one day of the Countess come to visit and she decided that she must tell him how she felt lest he go running off with her.

She told him how Westley had slammed the door in her face and how bereft Buttercup had been and then how finally Westley had told her he was leaving. He was going away to America to find a home for them, a place where dreams would come true and they could live a happily ever after. He pledged his love to fair Buttercup.

…" _Every time you said 'farm boy do this" you thought I was answering 'as you wish' but that's only because you were hearing wrong. 'I love you' was what it was, but you never heard and you never heard."….._

"Stop." Daryl was surprised at his own tone there and he knew his face showed it even as Beth's expression mirrored his own.

"What's wrong?" Beth sat up closer to him and he laid his palms flat on her shins.

"What he said. Westley. That he did those things for Buttercup because he loved her." He thought his tongue might trip over the word but it didn't. Came right off his tongue like he'd been saying it for years.

Beth's heart began to beat in her chest at Daryl's words and she was suddenly so glad she had picked this book out at the library. She nodded encouragingly but Daryl seemed to be having trouble and Beth could not help but hold her breath.

Daryl searched for the right words, failing miserably. Beth's hands came out to cover his own, the book forgotten in her lap. He breathed in deep as her hands stilled over his, her fingers curling around his palms. "But he didn't say it. He said as you wish."

Beth nodded. "Yeah that's right. He did all those things for her. We do that sometimes. For the people that we love the most in the whole world. We show our love in our actions because it means more than words."

Daryl nodded back, thankful that Beth was gripping his hands now. "He said as you wish 'cause he would do anythin' for her. Just like I'd do anythin' for you." His eyes met hers and he just knew his heart was going to rattle its way right out through his ribs. He had never felt so scared of telling someone something in his entire life.

Beth knew her heart couldn't have felt any warmer, any fuller than it did right then. In his own way, Daryl Dixon had just told her something he had likely never told a living soul. That he loved her. Her eyes welled up with tears and she leaned towards him, her legs naturally scooting further across his lap. She wound her arms up around his neck, looking into his eyes. "I'd do anythin' for you too Daryl."

He knew what she meant. He got it. She loved him and he loved her and they'd go to the ends of the earth for the other. Hell, they already had.

"You know what's messed up?" Daryl murmured, her lips just inches from his.

"What?" Beth breathed. She felt like she was in a trance.

He looked deep into her sapphire orbs, sparking back at him. "Out there beyond those walls, the worst kind of monsters are out there. The people are even worse sometimes. But in here, in these four walls when it's just us? I feel like we got the fairy tale."

Beth looked at Daryl Dixon, her eyes wide and full of love and marveled at the man's intuition and she thought that surely he must be able to read her mind. Because hadn't she just thought that afternoon that her life couldn't get any better. "Let's put the book away for now and just make out."

Daryl picked up the book and sat it to the side and pulled her further into his lap and smiled and just before his lips met hers she heard him say. "As you wish."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So they got an almost admission of love. But Daryl's love language is giving and I could not think of a better way to draw that out than this lovely story. If you have not read S. Morganstern's timeless tale of true love, The Princess Bride, you MUST. And when you do, you will immediately think of Daryl.


	6. Something More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Beth make out....then neither one of them can sleep. ;)

Beth could count on one hand the times she had masturbated since the world went bad. Until this past week that is. She went to bed nearly every night an ache low in her belly the likes of which she had never felt. And inevitably she would go to her room and find herself thinking of Daryl's lips on hers at the same time his hands roamed over her body. It always ended with her hand between her legs, fingers working at a furious pace until she bit back a cry, coming with Daryl's name on her lips.

Tonight was one of those nights. Except for whatever reason tonight she just couldn't make it happen. No matter how many times she tried to picture Daryl's hands working her over, she longed for it to be the real thing. She had never longed for anything as much in her entire life. She tossed and turned after finally giving up, wondering when in the world he would ever touch her in the way she longed to be touched. She flopped on her back and threw her arm over her forehead. The man was a gentleman to a fault and it was bound to be the death of her.

She started at a knock at the door.

"Beth?" His deep voice came from the other side of her bedroom door.

Beth flushed at the realization that she must have been making noises. She arranged her covers nervously calling back through the door. "You can come in." She sat up and she could just barely make out his silhouette in the doorway.

He crossed the threshold and walked over to the bed. "You okay? Y' were makin' an awful lot of racket. Thought maybe you were havin' a bad dream. I get 'em too."

Beth flushed even further. How could she tell him that she wasn't having a nightmare. What she been having was more of a wet dream. "I'm sorry. I just can't sleep." She nodded to the bed beside her and watched in awe as he sat down carefully beside her. Tried not to move a single muscle as he scooted next to her on the bed, sitting up and leaning back against the wall, a mirror of her pose. Beth drew her knees up and turned her head up to look at him.

"I couldn't sleep either." He shook his head to clear the bangs from his eyes. Beth watched as he worried his lip between his teeth. "What's keepin' you from sleepin?"

Beth let out a puff of air. It was always a conundrum trying to figure out if she should tell him absolutely everything and she waited a beat before speaking. She decided that they'd been more than honest with one another so far and that she should not balk at it now.

"Guess our makin' out got me kinda?" Beth searched for the right word and flushed.

"Yeah, I know what ya mean." She noticed that Daryl was quick to interject his agreement, saving her from having to name this for what it really was. They were both horny as hell but were unsure how to proceed in their relationship.

"I don't know if we're supposed ta do," she faltered. "More."

Daryl nodded. "Mhmm." He hummed his response. "Was thinkin' the same thing."

Beth's eyes cut to his and she noticed that he wasn't looking away. "How much more?" Beth barely breathed her question.

Daryl shrugged and squinted his eyes. "'S up to you."

Beth shook her head slowly. "No, it's up to both of us." She waited for him to nod his head in agreement. He had to know that they were in this together. That they made every decision together. Together. Her and Daryl Dixon. It blew her mind sometimes.

She was still feeling that awe and wonder as their heads drifted towards one another and their lips met in a sweet hesitancy, all breathy sighs and strained bodies, holding away from one another. It was new territory, both because they'd never really talked about this much and because they were in a bed. They were in her bed and they were kissing and all at once Beth's breathing quickened and her hands drifted to Daryl's abdomen. She waited for him to pull away and when he didn't her heart thundered beneath her breastbone. She wanted to touch his bare skin. More than anything and in turn she wanted him to touch hers. Her fingers gripped the hem of his shirt and she played with the edges for a second before just plunging ahead and lifting the hem running her fingers over the flat hard plane of his belly. He was all sinew and muscle, all hardness and masculinity and his scent filled her nostrils and carried all the way down to between her legs where moisture was pooling there already.

She involuntarily arched her back pressing her chest against him and she held her breath as she felt his fingers skimming up her ribcage, his fingers bunching up the fabric of her thin t-shirt. She moaned into his mouth and feared for a horrible moment that would be the end of this and he would run back to his room, scared that they had gone too far, but he responded with a moan of his own as she raked her fingernails across his lower abdomen, just barely grazing the button of his pants.

"Touch me please, Daryl." Her breathy request came spilling from her lips and she felt his presence just a little closer opening her eyes finding that he was just barely holding himself off of her. Somehow they had worked themselves closer to each other and she was pressed to him, breathless and wanting. She saw the heaviness in his eyes, his blackened pupils and knew he was just as turned on as she was.

"Where?" the question surprised her as much as the helpless look on his face. She realized in that moment that he really didn't know how to do this anymore than she did and it broke her heart all over again at this wonderful man she loved.

Beth went on instinct. She'd seen him checking out her ass enough times to know he wanted to touch her there. She silently brought her hand away from his abdomen and never taking her eyes from his she climbed on top of him, straddling him, placing her legs on either side of his hips, seating herself in his lap. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might come barreling out of her chest at any moment. She watched as his lips parted slightly. He still hadn't moved his hands from his sides.

"Close your eyes." She whispered and watched as Daryl complied.

She reached down and gripped his hands where they rested at his sides and pulled them behind her, placing his palms firmly against her ass. Her eyes fluttered closed for a second and she moaned at the contact Daryl's eyes flew open and locked on hers.

"There." She leaned forward and captured her lips with his. His lips parted willingly and she slipped her tongue inside his mouth. His hands didn't do anything at first but Beth brought her hands up to where his rested against her ass and pulled them firmly against the flesh there. Beth groaned as she felt his palms firmly grip her ass on either side and she gasped in pleasure as he suddenly jolted her forward pulling her against him more firmly. She was molded to him in every way and she could feel his hardness against her surely soaked pants. She wondered if he could feel the wetness there and thinking about Daryl knowing how wet she was, how much she wanted him, nearly had her in a frenzy. His kisses were just as breathless as hers were and she couldn't help but wonder how long they could keep up this momentum. Soon one of Daryl's hands strayed from her ass and crept up her back, working its way under her shirt, the rough of his palm meeting the bare skin of her back. Beth involuntarily arched against him, her breasts jutting against her t-shirt.

"Daryl." She breathed.

"Beth." His breathy reply was more of a moan. A plea. A whisper in the dark for all the nights they had spent apart either before she was ripped away from him or since they had been reunited here in this place.

Hearing her own name as a breathy cry was the undoing of the moment. She was overcome by sudden burning need and ground herself down against him, aching for that contact, acting on instinct and she felt the moment he stiffened up. It was too much.

She slid off his lap slowly and brought her fingers to her lips and looked at him and couldn't help the giggle that slipped from her lips shaking her head. She looked up at him grinning. "Like a couple teenagers."

Daryl looked at her outburst in surprise and she saw the quirk of his lips and he dropped his head and she noticed then his shoulders were shaking lightly. He looked up, the mirth evident in his eyes. "Damn Greene, you're gonna be the death of me."

"Oh you're one to talk, Mr. Dixon." Beth says. She doesn't finish her sentence. She doesn't have to. She settles down beside him and lays her head on his shoulder, them all relaxed in her bed like it's something they do every day.

Maybe they could do this after all. It'd probably take them a month of Sundays to get around to anything more than what they'd just done but one thing was sure, she was enjoying every minute of it.

"There ya go, makin' me feel old again." She knew he was referring to the Mr. Dixon and she smirked at him.

"I think ya more than proved a minute ago you're anythin' but old." Beth looked at him knowingly and he rolled his eyes.

"You gonna try to get some sleep or not Greene?" He said and she rolled her eyes right back at him, but settled down against his shoulder, a sudden yawn overtaking her.

"Gonna try." She stifled her answering yawn and didn't question the fact that he was offering to sleep in here with her. Somehow she knew that she'd spent her last night sleeping alone and she was just fine with it. More than fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you foor letting me share this story, xoxoxo


	7. I'm Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up between Beth and Daryl

For the whole next day, Daryl couldn't stop thinking about Beth's ass. Every time she walked by him in her skin tight pants and long sweatshirt, his fingers itched to reach out and put his hands on her.

But in the light of day, he was thinking too much like he usually did. Beth watched him carefully like he might snap at any minute and she'd be right, but not because he'd be upset. He just felt like he was a tightly wound watch right now and the least little thing would have him coming unraveled.

He had kissed right after lunch and other than a few hand brushes and when he'd pressed his lips to the side of her head when he'd gone down the road to pick up their weekly rations, they'd not come too close to one another.

As he went to sleep that night, their light kissing session abandoned mid-stride when they thought they had heard a noise. After that, the mood was broken and they eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Daryl could not stop thinking about Beth's ass. Again. She lay sleeping beside him and here he was staring at the ceiling like some dumbstruck teenage boy. His thoughts traveled back to two nights before. He had touched Beth Greene's ass. Not only touched it, but gripped it firmly in his hands. He couldn't describe exactly how he had felt, her lips on his, his tongue exploring her mouth, tasting like the peaches they'd had for supper. He couldn't quite think of the words to fully describe how it had felt her seated on his lap, her delicate fingers threading through his hair.

If he had to think of one word he was thinking while his fingers pressed into the soft flesh of her perfectly shaped ass, it would be Heaven. Because as he had laid back on the bed, Beth's perfect body above his and she moaned into his mouth as he touched her, he knew he'd never felt anything more perfect. And not just touching her, the way she made him feel when he did. Like he was doing something right, something good. She had liked it. He grew hard just thinking about it, how her breathing had hitched and her soft little gasps and the way she said his name.

He knew he'd reacted badly when she'd ground herself down onto him but it had just struck him in that moment when he'd moaned her name that this was Beth. This was Beth he was kissing and Beth he was holding in his arms and goddammit it was Beth who was pressing herself into him like she'd like nothing else but him to be buried deep inside her. It had thrilled him that he'd been able to elicit that response from her at the same time it had terrified him.

He was bad at this shit. He knew it. Hell she probably knew it too. When the muted grey light of morning started to creep between the slats on the blinds he turned his head to study the object of all his thoughts. She looked like a damn angel laying there, hair all fanned out above her on the pillow, eyes closed, lashes resting on her cheeks. She was so damn beautiful sometimes it hurt to look at her. For the life of him, he'd never be able to figure out what it was she saw in him but he didn't much care these days.

He felt like his mind was in a whirlwind, thinking the strangest and most turned around thoughts all at the same time. Wanting Beth in the worst way, but looking at her sleeping like this, so innocent, so untouched, he couldn't help but think it was all wrong. But in his heart, he knew. He knew he was meant to love her. He still wasn't ready to say it, but he knew what he felt was love. Knew it like he knew his own skin.

He looked at the scars on her face and wanted to go back to that damn hospital and tear the place down, board by fucking board and slaughter every last one of them until they bled like she'd bled. Until they hurt like she had hurt and if it wasn't for the fact that Beth said he was taken care of, he'd like to go back and rip the balls of the sumbitch that ever dared to lay his filthy hands on her. He was glad Beth had told him he hadn't gotten far. He didn't know what he'd have done. Some men in this world had done the worst kinds of things to women before the turn, but now? It was even worse. World had gone to hell in a hand basket and assholes like that prick cop could still only think about getting their dick wet.

He shifted in the bed and she stirred beside him, the first tendrils of consciousness gracing her face, her brow furrowed a bit as she stretched. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. She didn't seem surprised in the least that he was awake. "Mornin'." She said sleepily.

"It's still early." Daryl said, his voice hoarse from sleep.

Beth stretched, her back arching and she scooted closer to him, snaking her arm over his chest, gripping his side. He inhaled deeply. She smelled of strawberries and spring time and still like the damned peaches they'd had the night before and suddenly all he wanted to do was kiss her because he remembered how sweet her lips tasted. But it was still new to him, waking up beside her like this. Was he supposed to kiss her?

As if reading his mind she looked up at him, smiled softly at him, her baby blues seeking his like she just knew he was struggling like hell this morning. "You know, when two lovers wake up in the morning, they usually kiss."

Daryl snorted. "Mmmm. That what we are?" He nearly held his breath while he waited for her answer not letting himself what it might mean if she said yes. He'd entertained the thoughts. Hell of course he had. If he was going on pure instinct and desire, he would have already taken her. If that's what she wanted. So he waited for her response.

Beth shrugged and sat up a little, gazing down at him, her shirt slipping over her shoulder, hair tumbling forward onto his chest. His eyes were instantly drawn to the creamy expanse of bare skin at her neck and he longed to press his lips there and drink in her intoxicating scent.

He had been telling Beth the truth when he told her about his experience with other women. It was limited to say the least. But touching Beth was like a damn drug. A drug he wanted more of. He had never been one to do all the shit that Merle had done but if doing what Merle had done made him feel anything like this, well, for the first time in his life he thought he might understand.

"Of course we are, Daryl." She blushed a little and he thought the color looked good on her cheeks. Maybe when they figured all this out that could be a bonus. He smirked. "Well I mean we haven't done _that_ yet but…" Her voice trailed off. "What do you think we are?"

Daryl took a deep breath and sighed. He didn't honestly know. He shook his head slightly. "I 'unno." He shrugged his shoulders.

She waited patiently, watching him while he thought on it, bringing his thumb up to his lips, worrying the skin between his teeth. He watched, entranced, as Beth brought her hand up to his and pulled his thumb from his mouth and rubbed the pad of her thumb gently over the gnarled skin. She looked directly in his eyes as she rubbed back and forth, as if she was trying to erase his worry.

His heartbeat returned to a somewhat normal pace which was crazy because he felt sure she would be able to hear it, how strongly it beat inside his chest at her touch. "Maybe we just belong to each other."

Beth looked at him thoughtfully. "Like I'm yours."

Daryl's heartbeat sped up again and soared inside his chest, his ears ringing at her words. He nodded. "Mmmhmmm. And I'm yours."

She smiled brightly at him and he thought maybe he'd tell her that everyday. I'm yours, Beth. It tugged on him somewhere deep, somewhere he couldn't reach. He let it sink in that he belonged to someone as good as her. That he belonged anywhere, really.

He watched as Beth brought her hand up to his hair, thread her fingers through it. "It's gotten longer." She remarked.

"Yeah, didn't see no barber yet." The rest of them had. Rick's was the most noticeable. He looked more like the man who'd arrived on her farm a lifetime ago with his shaved beard and neatly trimmed hair. "Don't want nobody touchin' my hair I don't know."

"Would you let me do it?" Beth said softly as she looked into his eyes. Damn if her baby blues didn't draw him in and have him nodding his head like it was his idea all along she take a pair of scissors to his head.

"You ever cut hair though?" Daryl asked her, one eyebrow raised. He supposed it didn't really matter much. Wasn't nobody to impress except Beth and somehow he figured she wouldn't care one way or another.

Beth giggled. "My dolls. Does that count?"

Daryl chuckled lightly. "No, it don't count Greene. But it don't matter. I mean, sure you can cut it." Daryl flushed bright red as he tried to get out the simple words that he would let her do it.

She grinned at him then. "Guess we better wait til full light." She hopped up from the bed suddenly.

"Where ya goin'?" This woman bounced around more than anyone he'd ever seen.

"I gotta pee." Beth said over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom that joined onto her bedroom. He couldn't help but notice her ass as she walked away, especially since he came to the abrupt realization that she was wearing nothing but her t-shirt and a pair of tiny white panties that just barely covered what she had. She left the door open and he could see straight in where she was. He looked away discreetly just as he'd done all those weeks they were out on their own after the prison.

She came back into the room and climbed back onto the bed. She sat across from him, criss-crossing her legs in front of her. The t-shirt she had on just barely covered the tops of her thighs and Daryl's eyes were drawn between her legs. He'd seen plenty of Beth before, but not like this. Not in such an intimate setting.

Now that she was sitting the way she was, the thin scrap of material did even less to cover her and he could make out the tangle of curls through the white fabric. Just before he looked away, his mouth went dry wondering how she would taste. He wasn't an idiot and Merle had talked about pussy like it was some damn delicacy but Daryl had never seen the appeal in it. Until now.

He looked back up and saw that she had been watching him intently. "Do you like looking at me Daryl?" His eyes snapped to hers. He thought he might find humor there. But she was serious and what was more, pretty little Beth Greene's eyes had gone black as night, her pupils blown wide with unmistakable desire.

Daryl nodded slowly. He wasn't sure what to say but he wasn't going to lie. He liked looking at her very much.

"Maybe this is the more we can do." She said slowly, rearranging her legs so they were tucked under her.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "What's more?" He wasn't sure he was following but then again, he was pretty sure all blood supply was cut off to his brain in favor of a different part of his body.

"Looking. Maybe if we look more and touch a little less then we don't go too far before we're ready to." Her eyes had taken on that look she got when she didn't know if he'd agree with her or not.

He nodded. "'S fine by me. We can still touch some though right?"

Beth grinned and nodded at him as she climbed back onto his lap, just like last night, except this time the covers separated them. She brought her hands up to his shoulders, bracing herself against him as she settled her pelvis against his. "Did you have something in particular in mind you wanted to touch, Mr. Dixon?"

He grinned against her lips, going in for a kiss. And without even thinking about it, he brought his hands up to her ass, his palms flush with her backside and squeezed.

He pulled away and looked at her. "Did you have anything in mind you wanted to touch Greene?" He smirked.

"Thought you'd never ask." She said and dipped her head to his, her lips fitting over his like she meant to kiss him all morning long. And if Daryl had his say, that's exactly what was going to happen.


	8. We May Burn Like Gasoline and Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things progress and Daryl has something to confess.

Beth smiled to herself as she finished another passage of "The Princess Bride". She knew Daryl enjoyed it and it had become part of their routine. She had been reading to him every night and they had gotten to some of the good parts and she was really enjoying talking to Daryl about it. He usually played with her hair now while she read to him. They'd not done anything more than kiss since that night that they'd talked. It was okay with her. She knew he needed time to adjust to things in his mind. This sweet beautiful man was sensitive in ways that no one could understand. She got him though. She knew he began feeling things in stages before he could ever acknowledge them. She thought that sometimes she loved him so much her heart would burst from it.

She put the book down after reading the last passage and Daryl looked at her shyly. "Ain't tired tonight."

Beth thought about what he might mean and for a minute her heart began to pound. But he didn't have that look on his face. She had gotten to know his face that meant that he was turned on. That he wanted her. This was different. She looked at him questioningly, waiting patiently. "Can you maybe sing something?" He was looking at her through too long bangs. They'd not had a chance to have her cut it yet.

She nodded at him quietly and a shy smile crept up on her face. He swore sometimes the girl didn't know how beautiful she really was. He didn't even see her scars anymore. She could rise from the bed hair all askew and she was still the prettiest girl in ten counties to him. His heart leapt into his throat as she began to sing.

Trying to live and love,  
With a heart that can't be broken,  
Is like trying to see the light with eyes that can't be opened.  
Yeah, we both carry baggage,  
We picked up on our way, so if you love me do it gently,  
And I will do the same.

We may shine, we may shatter,  
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,  
We are fragile, we are human,  
We are shaped by the light we let through us,  
We break fast, cause we are glass.  
Cause we are glass.

I'll let you look inside me, through the stains and through the cracks,  
And in the darkness of this moment,  
You see the good and bad.  
But try not to judge me, 'cause we've walked down different paths,  
But it brought us here together, so I won't take that back.

We may shine, we may shatter,  
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,  
We are fragile, we are human,  
We are shaped by the light we let through us,  
We break fast, cause we are glass.

We might be oil and water, this could be a big mistake,  
We might burn like gasoline and fire,  
It's a chance we'll have to take.

We may shine, we may shatter,  
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,  
We are fragile, we are human,  
And we are shaped by the light we let through us,  
We break fast, cause we are glass.  
We are glass.

She let the last of the song fade out. It was a song she had heard shortly before the turn and it had always stuck with her. Now that she had this thing with Daryl it had resonated with her even more.

"Gas and fire made me think of the shine shack." Daryl remarked his fingers worrying the blanket of their bed where they lay facing each other.

"Me too." She smiled at him. "Wouldn't wanna burn houses down with no one else." She sighed and leaned back against the pillow.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment until finally Beth looked over at Daryl. He was staring at her intently. "What?" She reached up and tucked an errant strand behind her ear.

Daryl shrugged and Beth looked at him pointedly.

Daryl didn't know how to voice what he was thinking and that was how they had come to sleep in the same bed every night in the first place. It had been because she couldn't sleep because she was too turned on after their make out session that night. He had heard the noises she made that night and it was half the reason why he went to her door. Of course once he got there, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to ask if she needed help or if she was still breathing.

He took a deep breath. He knew he was probably opening up a can of worms but this push pull between them was killing him. He had never in his life wanted to let his hands roam over a person but he did with her and that scared the hell out of him.

Beth could tell he wanted to ask her something but was reticent as always, chewing on his thumb like he'd had nothing to eat in days but she knew full well he had just had his fill of her chicken stew.

"What is it?" She said softly and his eyes met hers.

Daryl stared at her for a long minute. "That night I first came in here to sleep."

She nodded. She thought she knew where he was going with it but she needed more information. The last thing she wanted to do was to scare him off. It was such a delicate balance between them. She knew he needed time to adjust to each new step of their relationship.

"I thought I heard you." His face flushed bright red. He had heard her masturbating. How she had pleasured herself or tried to that night and nothing happening. It had only been made better by the fact that he had come to her and stayed. And he'd never left since. He wanted to talk about it now. "Yes, I was thinking about you."

"Do you still do it?" Daryl asked her and looked at her, nearly holding his breath waiting for her response.

"Touch myself?" Beth's voice was barely a whisper and he had leaned closer to her. It was the opposite of what he needed to be doing as he leaned in and began to spread slow kisses across the flesh of her neck, making shivers dance across her skin.

Daryl hummed his response. "Mmmhmmm."

Beth slowly nodded realizing that he couldn't see her with his lips burrowing into the soft of her skin and making it ache between her legs something awful. She moved her hand down the flat of her belly and Daryl pulled away to watch as she slid her hand beneath the waistband of her sleep pants and skimmed lower down into her panties and trailed her fingers through the already damp curls.

He was so glad for the cover of the blanket right now. He knew he had expanded past the confines of his boxers. Beth wouldn't let him sleep in his pants. Watching Beth's hand snake down her belly and disappear into her panties was making his chest expand like he was going to burst and watching her drop her head back as her fingers hit home was almost more than he could bear. Beth pulled on him suddenly, pulling him in for a kiss and her lips locked on his, her tongue sliding into his waiting mouth. Her kisses were hot, heavy, and made his blood run thick and slow and like his limbs were made of lead. And all the while he could feel her hand hit against him as she worked her fingers in a fever pitch. She broke their kiss suddenly and her head dropped back to the bed, her blonde halo of curls falling back onto the pillow behind her and she looked like some goddamn angel. An angel hell bent on making him cum in his pants where he lay. Her breathing was erratic now and he could tell she was close and then suddenly she cried out and her hips bucked off the bed. A few more jerky movements of her wrist and she fell back to the bed, her hands resting just inside of her pants and her breathing fast her chest heaving up and down.

Beth looked up at Daryl and knew instantly that it was too much. He bolted. Just like she knew he would when they got anywhere near this.

Daryl slammed the bathroom door shut and whipped his boxers to the ground. He was driven by something deep inside him. He needed release. He barely had reached for his dick when he felt it coming and he grasped his length in his hands, a few jerky movements and he was done, his orgasm ripping through him like none he had ever had. It was the most erotic thing he had ever done watching Beth cum like she had but there was no way in hell he could sit there and let himself do the same. And the worst of it was that he felt like an enormous prick for running out on her like he did.

He sighed and reached for the towel lying on the sink, cleaning up the mess he had made, the sticky substance coating his thighs and his hand. He retrieved his boxers from the floor and pulled them back on, reluctantly opening the door, but ready to face her. This was how they were supposed to do things. Talk about it. He knew that. It was just hard for him to follow through sometimes.

He walked back into the room and his eyes met hers.

Beth's heart nearly broke when he approached the bed and at the same time it soared too because the reservation in his eyes that he had shown her when he asked her about touching herself was gone. It had been replaced by something else and her heart began to pound beneath her breasts.

"Do you feel better?" Why was her voice shaking? Daryl sat down beside her and reached for her hand and her fingers readily intertwined with his. He was linking them together. It was intimate and sensual at the same time, knowing where his fingers had just been.

Daryl looked at her and nodded. He was going to be honest with her. He had just opened himself up to her in a whole new way. "I took care of it."

He looked at her shyly, knowing she was about to call him out on running out.

"Next time I get to watch." Her eyes met his and she didn't hold back the heat in her gaze. They had at least gotten past that. "It's only fair."

Daryl just nodded. What else could he say when she had him in spades with that statement.

"You gotta promise?" Beth held out her pinkie of her other hand and he just looked at her.

"Pinkie promises are the most solemn of promises. They mean more and they can't be broken."

Now Daryl wasn't much for promises. They hadn't held much weight for him because no one in his life had ever promised him anything, not anyone that mattered. Beth mattered. Like a whole lot. He reached out and took her pinkie in his and it felt impossibly ridiculous and made his chest feel tight all at the same time.

She beamed him that sunshine smile of hers and stared up at him, those cornflower blues shooting rays of hope back at him, just like always and he suddenly knew he had to tell her. He had to tell confess what had been on his tongue since the moment she asked him what had changed his mind. He had already shared so much of himself tonight that it didn't seem right to withhold from her the only thing that mattered to his heart.

"I ain't much for promises, but I can be. I promise I ain't gonna hide nothin' from ya again. And that means tellin' ya what I should've in that kitchen before everything went to shit." He looked at her and he knew it was okay. He knew she already knew all his tells and he wasn't going to be telling her anything she didn't already know, but he wanted to tell her all the same. "I love ya, Beth."

She didn't remember anything but him whispering it again as he came close to her "I love ya", and swept his lips across hers, his hand leaving hers to tangle in her hair and draw her to him. He kissed her thoroughly and then they laid beside one another and finally she tucked herself against him, neither saying anything else.

They'd forged a new bond this night, just like the one they had long ago except this time instead of setting fire to their past, they had ignited a flame inside of each of them and it burned as real as any they'd ever felt.

As Beth fell asleep there was still a part of her that ached something awful like there was something missing, a burning from the fire they had just built between them. Always the burning with two of them. But she was beside him, tucked into his arms and it reminded her so much of his winged vest and how she felt like she was under the wings of this dark angel sent to her. He was nothing like what she'd dreamed up for herself when she was that long ago girl but yet again, she was no longer that doe-eyed farm girl, pressed against the door of a barn with careful gropes over sweaters and sloppy kisses stolen on the front porch.

She was a woman and lying beside Daryl she had never felt more that way, like he had broken open something inside her, some innate force clawing its way out to the surface and washing over her like honey, slow and warm and it was seeping into her bones. The weight of her earlier orgasm and the satisfaction of his confession was pulling her under, her eyes growing heavier by the minute. The last thing she remembered as she fell asleep was remembering that he told her finally. He told her he loved her and that was all that mattered in all the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and let me know how you like this fic so far, xoxoxo


	9. Quiet Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was fun to write...enjoy!

It had been two weeks since Daryl had told her he loved her and he didn't say it often but at least once a day in the past few. He was getting more comfortable with it and also more comfortable with her. She had gotten sick the day after their last make-out session and she was just starting to feel better when something happened that had not happened in a very long time. It had taken her by surprise that morning when she had gone to the bathroom and seen the telltale signs of blood. She had gotten her period. She would be lying if she said she missed it while on the run from the prison and then after everything had happened at the hospital. She had known when she missed it the first couple of times it was likely due to stress and after that was probably from excess physical activity and lack of food. Nothing like an apocalypse to screw up a girl's cycle, she had thought wryly.

Now finally it seemed her cycle had ended and she was thankful. Her face still flushed with embarrassment at having to tell Daryl that she needed to go to the commissary. He had insisted that he go for her and asked her to make a list. She had stammered and stuttered for so long and stubbornly refused to tell him and he was about dense when it came to stuff like that. She had finally blurted it out to him and then both their faces were red. He had looked away and then back at her again and told her to get her coat and he'd walk her there.

To his credit he hadn't said a word and they'd had a huge fight the morning after the night he hadn't kissed her. He had not wanted to touch her because he thought she wouldn't like it given her condition. She giggled to herself as she folded the last towel in the large stack of laundry she had just folded.

"I'm having my period, Daryl. It's not a damn plague!" She hadn't wanted to even kiss him after that, she had been so pissed at him.

He had been so cute the day after. He'd taken his bow out early that afternoon and when he came back he'd handed her a bunch of fresh purple pansies. "I'm sorry I was a dick. I just ain't used to all this is all." He had looked at her, like a kicked pup between his overgrown bangs that she still had yet to cut.

"'S okay Daryl. You're catchin' on fast." She grinned at him as she placed the pansies in a small cup of water. Seemed a shame to let them die after he'd gone to the trouble of bringing them back for her.

"I love you." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. And that was the end of their fight. He'd picked her up off her feet and sat her on the counter and kissed her until she was breathless. He'd finally stepped away and winked as he retrieved his crossbow from the table. "Gonna go catch a shower before supper."

Beth had just sat there on the counter flustered and attempting to arrange her hair back into some semblance of the ponytail that she had fixed that morning. One thing was for sure. Daryl lately seemed to have a penchant for making sure her hair was down.

Now here she was several days later, folding laundry. It was Saturday and she was anxious for Daryl to get home. She was cutting his hair and that was that. He had gone with Rick to help shore up some walls on the East end of the safe zone and work out a plan for tightening up security on that side. A walker had nearly gotten in the night before and it had shaken everyone to their core to think that they had to go back to living the way they had. In constant fear. She shook the thought from her mind and set to putting away the laundry. She was going to have it all set up when he came home. That way there were no arguments.

* * *

"How's things with you an' Beth?" Rick was careful with his words, Daryl knew because the first few times anyone had asked that question of him he had damn near bitten their heads off.

He looked at his friend now who eyed him warily. Daryl nodded. "Things are good." He looked back towards the street, thankful that they didn't have to be so vigilant now. They would never let their guard completely down, not him and not Rick. He guessed no one else in their group would either, not after all they had been through. But still it was nice to be able to walk and talk and not have to worry about a facing a herd around the next bend.

"Michonne says you told Beth you loved her. 'Bout damn time man." Rick looked at his friend. He figured if he hadn't bitten his head off yet, maybe he could get away with a little ribbing.

Daryl snorted. "Yeah. Guess it was." It had taken him a lifetime to fall in love and hell it seemed like a lifetime to be able to tell the girl how he felt about her. He didn't notice the smile that crept on his face.

"She makes ya happy, I can see that." Rick was observant. He didn't miss anything. He guessed if anybody would know the difference in him between the hospital and here in the safe zone, it would be Rick.

"Back when I thought." He stopped himself. He couldn't say the words. He had thought she had died. Still couldn't make sense of why she was still here. "Back on the road, before we got here. I know I said a lot of things." That was an understatement. He had been an asshole to everyone, least of all Rick. He had blamed him in some way, he knew, for what happened to Beth. After it had happened, he had a thousand what if's and if only's and only the same result at the end of the day. She was gone. He had needed someone to blame and he regretted the things he had said. To family no less. His brother.

Rick nodded. "'S alright. We all been there." He met the archer's gaze. "Glad you got her back. That's everythin'."

Daryl squinted at him, the tears forming but he wouldn't cry. Rick had seen it once and he didn't need to see that side of him again. No one but Beth did now.

"It is." That was all that was said between them the rest of the walk home. It was all that was needed. They had both lost a lot but they had gained a lot too. From what he could tell Rick was real happy with Michonne too, even if he wasn't ready to admit it yet. No one wanted to jinx anything they had nowadays, he guessed. And no one could blame them.

He crossed through the front door of the house after bidding Rick goodnight. He couldn't wait to see Beth. She had been on her monthly thing for damn near a week and though he was loathe to admit it, he was anxious to see her fingers slip below her waistband again, watch her writhe and moan on the bed. He wasn't sure he was ready for what would likely follow which was him stroking his dick in front of her and her watching him have the same pleasure she had but hell he was about to die. Jacking off in private wasn't really doing it for him anymore. He had played that same reel from that night over and over in his head and he was shocked to realize that he needed more. Besides that he was cleaner than he'd been in his whole life on account of all the showers he had been taking lately. At this point, the whole damn safe zone was going to run out of water just because he had rub one out over thinking about pretty Beth Greene in the throes of an orgasm.

He walked in to the kitchen to the sight of Beth bent over, rummaging through the cabinet under the sink for something. He stopped where he stood in the door frame, leaning against it and silently took in the view of her sweet round ass wiggling in the air as she finally pulled out her prize, a moth-ridden tablecloth.

She turned and jumped a bit before a wide smile settled on her face. "You're home!"

Beth took in his form, leaning against the door frame and a surge of desire swept over her. He looked so indescribably hot, his biceps huge and his chest muscles tight and hard and –. His voice interrupted her train of thought.

"What's this?" He had moved to the table where he picked up a pair of scissors. She had mentioned cutting his hair. He sighed.

She just looked at him as she quickly spread the worn out table cloth under the chair so as not to get hair all over the clean kitchen floor. She had spent an hour that morning making it shine.

"You said I could cut your hair. I'm tired of talkin' to ya through that." Her eyes went to his bangs and her tone was teasing as she stepped up to him and pulled the scissors from him and gently nudged his chest with two of her fingers into the chair she had set out for him.

Daryl nearly fell over backwards in the chair. She hadn't pushed hard. It was his reaction of his bones seeming to fall through the muscle and sinew leaving him with nothing to support him as he watched her take two of her delicate fingers and shove him into the chair. God, he wanted nothing more in that moment than for her to straddle him where he sat and ride him like the cowgirl he knew she'd be. He was equally shocked and turned on by his thought. He had felt he needed more but Jesus H. he knew he wasn't ready to go that far yet.

He nodded at her, incapable at the moment of forming words. Because she was currently running her fingers through every damn strand on his head and it was making it damn near impossible to concentrate on anything else.

"Stay still." Her voice was low and soft and there was a smoky quality to it. He liked it.

He did as she asked, stayed perfectly still as she combed her fingers through his hair again and again, hearing the snip-snip of scissors as she went along. It was an oddly comforting feeling having her cut away at his hair and he didn't know why that surprised him. Everything about Beth was a comfort to him. Everything about her was home.

She smelled so damn good, every time her fingers glided through his scalp and she leaned over to survey her work, he caught her scent; sweet, cloying and very much Beth. Her hair still held a faint aroma of the Lilac shampoo she had found on their trip to the commissary earlier in the week. Every time her fingertips ghosted across his skin, he swore he shivered but if Beth noticed, she didn't let on.

It was driving her crazy, touching him like this. There was something so incredibly intimate about trimming his hair and as she got closer to finishing she could see his eyes more and she could also see the desire in them. Which was fine by her, since she felt the same way.

She shook herself from the thoughts, combing her fingers through the now shorter strands and brushed the remaining stray hairs from his shoulders. She finally finished and stepped back to survey it, smiling. She stepped behind him and held up the mirror in front of him to let him see. She saw the look pass over his face as his eyes met hers in the mirror. She saw the deep black of his pupils as they dilated taking her in just over his shoulder. Her own eyes felt heavier than ever and she never took her eyes from his as he reached up and took the mirror from her. Finally she watched as he laid the mirror down on the table and she walked around to where he sat. He moved his feet closer together and tugged her down onto his lap and simultaneously wound his arms up around her back, his fingers splayed across the fabric, wishing he could slide his fingers up under the hem of her shirt feel the skin there.

Beth moaned as she dipped her head down and Daryl's lips caught hers in a hungry kiss, deep, aching and still left them both wanting. She ground herself down onto him craving further contact and a surge of fresh desire washed through her when he didn't throw her off of him and instead moved his hands down to her hips, pushing her more firmly into him. She could feel his erection pressing against her but she craved more contact. She shifted her body more fully lining them up, her pussy aching to be filled but the angle and the clothing was preventing her one true desire. She groaned in frustration and pulled back. "We should go upstairs."

She held her breath and hoped she hadn't read things wrong and he wasn't going to go running off again but judging by his breathing, she didn't think so. He looked at her and nodded. "It'd be best." He smirked at her and her heart sped up again. This man was going to be the death of her.

She gestured to the mess on the floor. "I'll clean it up later."

"I should probably take a shower." Daryl remarked, brushing the hair off the back of his neck. It wouldn't hurt either since he'd gotten pretty grimy out in the field with Rick that day.

Beth nodded. "You go on up. I'll go ahead and clean up and meet you in a few."

She got up from his lap and began cleaning up and just as he left the room she squealed as he walked by, slapping her ass in passing. "See ya in a few Greene."

Daryl Dixon had sass, she'd give him that. No one would believe her if she told them how he'd been lately. Flirty. The man was dangerous and his eyes held it all. His eyes held everything. Sometimes she thought they held her soul too but she didn't mind really. It seemed fitting the way her heart seemed all tied up in him too.

She hummed as she finished cleaning up and suddenly had a brilliant idea. The little bra and panty set that Maggie had given her last week. She had blushed furiously but Maggie said Glenn had found them. They'd been too small for Maggie since they were at least a couple sizes apart but they had fit Beth perfectly. The thought had already formed in her mind and she knew just what she was going to do.

* * *

Daryl hurried through his shower resisting the urge to let his hands linger over his dick longer than necessary. He needed release so damn bad but he was too afraid he wouldn't be able to get hard again that quickly and then she would know. No way in hell was he willing to face that wrath. Besides, he'd made her a promise with his damn pinky. To hear her tell it if he broke that he was worse than scum. No, he was going to wait. It was Beth. This was Beth. He repeated to himself all through the rest of his shower and putting on a clean pair of boxers. He padded to the room barefoot and he could not have prepared himself for the vision that greeted him as he entered the room. There was Beth laid out on the bed in some slip of nothing pink robe, coming to midthigh, made of very sheer material. He could clearly see the bra and panties underneath. As he approached the bed, it became clear that it was tied with a white satin ribbon like she was some damn present to open.

He lowered himself beside her and her lips were on his instantly. His tongue slipped inside her mouth, sliding against hers, and he moved his hands to the sides of her head, his thumbs brushing along her jaw. The kiss went on for what seemed like forever until neither one could breathe and they had to break apart to keep from suffocating.

He held her gaze as their breathing steadied and then his attention was drawn to her hands as they moved from his chest, her finger creeping along the surface of his belly. He finally exhaled as her fingers left his body and travelled to the tie on her robe. She pulled the strip of fabric and he watched, unable to move or speak as she let the robe fall open at the top and he was greeted by the sight of the palest pink, thinnest fabric he had ever seen hugging every inch of her small round breasts. He could make out the outline of her nipples through the sheer fabric and he wanted to run his tongue over the clearly hardened nubs. He looked at her eyes, pools of black rimmed in crystalline blue and he was lost. They flashed in brief amusement before they broke his gaze and he followed her eyes to where her fingers parted the fabric of her robe further revealing the tiniest pair of panties he had ever seen. Her legs were crossed demurely at the knee up to that point but as she made to move the material from her body and drop it from the ground, her thighs rested side by side facing him. She moved her hand to her hip and ran her hand over the skin there and Daryl wished like hell he had the courage to reach out and touch her. But this was about looking. That's what they had talked about the last time right?

Beth ached for him to touch her where her fingers were heading but she knew he wasn't ready yet but maybe he was ready to look. She could only hope. Her breathing hitched involuntarily as she slipped her fingers inside the waistband of her panties.

Daryl nearly came right then and there. Just before she slipped her hand inside those impossibly tiny pink panties, he made out that the dark triangle of curls had disappeared. Beth Greene had found a razor and had gone and shaved her pussy completely bald. He could make out a wet spot at the top of her clearly outlined lips. He damned the manufacturer of those panties straight to hell in that moment because he wanted nothing more than to run his tongue over the fabric and lap up every bit of her juices that had seeped out, spreading the evidence of her desire all over his tongue.

Her fingers now covered her lips for the most part and he didn't even realize the moment he craned his neck to see but she noticed and shifted her body so he could watch her work her fingers in and out of her now swollen pussy. She was moaning and her breathing was hitched and he had never seen anything more beautiful that Beth bringing herself to orgasm. Her hand all but removed her panties completely and he had an excellent view of her working her fingers on her clit in a rhythmic motion.

He would have no recollection later of the moment his hand slipped south as he watched her, his fingers gliding against his cock.

Beth held her breath as she continued to rub her clit furiously. She was careful to not let him notice that she _saw_. His hand had slipped from its place on her hip to the waistband of his boxers and he now was stroking his dick up and down and Beth had never in her life wanted anything more than to shove his hand aside and impale herself on him, never mind that she knew it would hurt. She caught glimpses of his hardened cock and it made her want things she had never wanted before. It was a desire that came from deep within her, a primitive call that needed answered but she knew he needed something else more. His needs became more important than her own in that realization. She stopped her own movements as his breathing hitched and his eyes flew to hers, panicked and she knew exactly what he needed.

She had done it for him before when he'd been overcome. It seemed a lifetime ago that she had wrapped her arms around him from behind, holding him up from the hurt of the world that had been heaped upon his shoulders along with the guilt that he had piled up there too. He'd released his demons that day and she knew he needed to release them again now. She pulled him into her arms and just held him as tight as she could and he let her.

"Fuck. Beth." His words came in gasps and grunts. A few more jerky movements and he was done. She could feel it warm and wet between them and she didn't care.

Neither one of them moved. Beth didn't feel she should. She'd hold him for as long as he'd let her. As long as he needed her to. That's what they were to each other. An anchor.

He moved finally and pulled away to look at her and the raw look in his eyes was her undoing. "I love you Daryl." That was all he needed to hear as all the shame in his eyes melted into love and acceptance of what had just happened and of them in general.

His voice was gruff as his heart swelled as he looked at her. She was the only one who would ever get him. The only one who just got him without even trying to. "I love you too baby girl."

That night, he slept better than he had in a long time and he knew it was all because of the angel beside him. She'd made him feel more, experience more than he'd ever felt in his whole life. He knew he hadn't done one thing in his whole shit life to deserve what he had with her and that was what made him all the more grateful for what they had. He had everything with Beth and he'd never forget it; not as long as he drew breath.


	10. The Lies We Tell Ourselves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth is still haunted by the past.

He never thought he could have done what he and Beth did; that he could give himself over in that way. It had surprised him that he had been able to in the moment, that he could splay himself open and let her see. He figured she saw it all anyway, but still he had never felt more raw, more vulnerable than he had in that moment.

They had not done much more than kiss for the past couple of days. She hadn't said anything, but she knew. Just like she always did. She knew he needed time to adjust to this new phase of their relationship. Baby steps; they had promised each other.

He had been bent out of shape about the whole thing an hour after she had gone to sleep. Then his mind relaxed against the idea, her sweet scent beside him spurning powerful images in his mind. Of skin and fingers, parted lips and parted thighs.

It grew over the next two days and he had moments of utter clarity and others where all his desires became muddled with his past and his present and wondering how the universe (or God or whatever being deigned itself responsible for this world gone to shit) had ever thought to put sweet, prettier than daylight Beth Greene with the likes of him.

" _I was nobody, nothin'."_

They'd nearly finished the book she'd been reading to him each night and he loved every minute of it, though he wouldn't tell her that. He knew she saw it in the way he watched her face as she read. The way her eyes would slide over the pages and how she'd look up at him occasionally to catch his reaction. It was one of his favorite parts of the day, Beth reading to him about a princess and her prince and how they had been apart for such a long time and against all odds, he had saved her. Then in the end, she ended up saving him too since he was only "mostly dead". Daryl felt that thick feeling in his throat that threatened to overtake him and he just knew he'd be lost in a swirl of emotions. He swallowed past it but the feeling was brought on by the realization that he himself was mostly dead before Beth showed up in Alexandria. He had been literally like Rick had once said. "We are the walking dead."

He was a dead man walking. He had been no better than the ones that roamed outside the walls, seeking to feast upon the flesh of the living. The only difference was he was devoured every bit of anger he harbored in his heart for a god who would let someone as pure and good as Beth to die.

He wasn't sure what tomorrow held and his past was still a mystery as to how he had survived it but he was absolutely certain of one thing. He had gone and fallen head over heels in love with Beth Greene and he'd never be the same again. He couldn't help the spread of the smile across his face at the thought that he knew with the same certainty that she loved him too.

* * *

Beth stared down at the pale yellow journal that Daryl had gotten her. It was blank, every single page an empty canvas for her thoughts. He'd given it her the day before and she had fallen in love with him all over again that he had remembered how much she loved writing in her journal. Then she didn't know why she hadn't guessed he'd do something like that. It was really just like him. That was the thing most people didn't know about Daryl. His thoughtfulness that came from a place deep inside him. A place that sought out the love that he never got as a little boy. It had made him a reticent romantic. He had the forethought for romantic gestures and planned them out. He just lacked a certain finesse in receiving a compliment about how well the gesture was executed. It was as if he felt he was atoning for something and he couldn't accept the fact that people loved him just for him. She loved him like that and for the million reasons she thought of every day.

She was waiting on Daryl to get home now. He had gone to a planning meeting with Rick and Abraham for expanding the west wall of the zone. The journal stared back at her and she tentatively reached for it, the hue of home churned butter blending with the soft bound leather of the book and it appealed to the Beth she used to know. The "before" Beth. The one who didn't mind being around a lot of people, who could "sing out in crowds like it was fun".

One of the things she missed most about her old journal was reading through the old entries. It held some of her most precious secret memories. Now those secrets were out there for anyone to read them though she didn't know who would. The world was a different place now. She would have liked now to go back and read the entries about Daryl, especially the ones after their fight when she had noticed such a change in him. How he'd seemed less hardened somehow. And how sometimes she'd see him, just watching her, his eyes burning into her like he could light a fire. She smiled remembering how he probably had. When they burned down that shine shack. It was a good memory that she wrote about in her diary. She had been full of hope after they'd left that shack, whispers of their fight a dim memory and in its place images of burning copper flames rising in the sky, their pasts a Phoenix rising up and in the middle, her and Daryl with their middle fingers thrust upwards at a world that had tried to screw them in every way since the turn. A gigantic fuck you. She wondered what her Daddy would think about her thinking such a word. Let alone her saying it.

She worried her lip between her teeth. Sometimes she worried she didn't know that girl anymore. Hershel Greene's daughter. Maggie's little sister. Even Judith's babysitter. She wasn't the girl that wrote on those long ago pages. Maybe somehow if she wrote in this diary, she could somehow connect with that girl she used to be. She put her pen to the paper and began, hoping it came out like she wanted.

_Hi, you don't know me yet. But that's okay, I don't know you either. In fact, I'm not even sure I know myself anymore. We've all lost a lot._ _**I've** _ _lost a lot. And I'll tell you all about it, eventually. With all that I've lost, it's really only fair to say I found something too. Something good. Or someone rather. Daryl is the best good there is though I have to remind him sometimes. That's our little private joke. We have a lot of those._

_Daryl once told me that the good people don't survive. Leave it to Daryl to never see himself as good. He's always been the protector of our group. Like a guardian angel. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world because I am with him now. He's my guardian angel too. Sometimes I don't even think he knows how much he saved me. And he just keeps on saving me. Maybe somehow, I saved him too._

* * *

Daryl let himself in their small house and closed the door behind him, listening for cues as to Beth's whereabouts. She had been quiet as a mouse before moving through the echoed corridors of the prison but here in this house, she was like a ghost. He bristled at the thought like he could call it back into the recesses of his mind. He knew it had come from a place where he had thought she was gone forever.

The meeting with Rick had gone well. There were new residents moving into the safe zone every day. It had just been a little trickle last week, one straggling survivor here and there. But yesterday, a group of 20 had arrived and though they were happy to accommodate if the trend continued, they would be having to double up housing. No one would mind considering the alternative of what was outside their walls but at the same time after not having to live in each other's pockets so much it would be hard to go back to that. Plus it seemed a shame to waste all the perfectly good houses that sat just on the other side waiting to be occupied. The plan was to move the wall in increments. If they stuck to it and everyone worked together, they could have the wall moved in less than a month and gain enough housing for another 150 residents. That was a generous estimate but they had decided to err on the side of optimism.

He walked back to the staircase, seeing not hide or hair of Beth. He called up the steps as he went. "I'm home."

After scaring the living daylights out of her the day before, he'd figured maybe it was wise to announce his presence. She had been shaking when it had happened and he'd only seen that particular look on her face one other time. The night she had told him a bit about that hospital. He didn't know all of it. He knew what she was willing to share and that was enough for him. Even if she never told him what had happened there, he could be okay with being here to help her put the pieces back together and count himself lucky that she wanted him there.

Sometimes it broke his heart how much innocence and openness she exuded before she was taken. He stood in the doorway to their bedroom and he couldn't stop the smile that crept onto his face at the picture she made, hair cascading down her shoulders, pen behind her ear as she looked at something in the journal he'd given her. He felt a swell of pride that he might have done something good. She looked up at him, a wide smile stretching across her face. The way she was smiling at him, he kind of believed he did do something good and it felt really nice. He caught the spark in her eyes and he couldn't seem to wipe the tiny grin off his face.

She launched herself from the bed, the journal and pen forgotten behind her. She was in front of him before he could blink. His hands went to her waist, his fingers just barely skimming under her t-shirt, coming into contact with her warmth just as her hands slid up around his neck.

"I missed you today." She murmured looking up at him.

"You say that every day Greene." She narrowed her eyes at him and he chuckled low.

Beth couldn't help the tiny laugh. "I can't help it. This is where you're supposed to say you missed me too." She chided gently.

She was teasing and he knew it and the glint in her eyes was downright mischievous. "Course I missed ya Beth." His voice was gruff at the end of his statement and she held his gaze all the way until his lips met hers. Hers closed and his did too and he got lost in his girl for a bit. _His girl_.

He got lost in the sensation of her warm lips and sweet taste and the little flicks of her tongue in his mouth were enough to bring him to his knees. She groaned into his mouth and it set a fire that coursed its way to his gut and kept on going until it threatened to consume him. He fisted his hand lightly into her hair, molding her to fit his lips. Kissing Beth like this always made him feel like his soul was on fire. Finally out of need for oxygen, they broke the kiss, but they still made no move to disentangle themselves in one another.

Beth looked up at him finally. "How was your day?"

He glanced at the bed, knowing she caught his meaning. He didn't want to pry but he was giving her the go ahead to talk about things if she wanted to. Her eyes said she wasn't ready to talk about it yet and that was fine with him. He'd be here when she was.

"Billy came down with some kind of flu bug. Jenny had to walk him home." Jenny was her assistant. She was 16 and deemed to be done with their form of schooling since she was so darn smart. Sometimes Beth wondered if she ought to be teaching the class instead of Beth.

Jenny was sweet and she reminded Beth a lot of herself when she was her age. That had only been three years ago but it seemed like something out of another life, another time, which was strange considering that had been after the turn. She didn't know a lot about the girl yet but she seemed to gravitate towards Beth. It was strange too that it seemed like Jenny was the only person in the safe zone that didn't make her nervous in the least. Besides Daryl of course. She smiled at the subject of her thoughts, her hands sliding from his shoulders, her palms coming to rest on his chest. She loved all the ways he was so hard, so masculine, so different from her.

"Mmm. That's not good. The last thing this place needs is some flu to sweep through. It was bad when all that went down at the prison. We barely survived that." Of course right in the middle of that, the Governor and his men had shown up and flushed the out of their home. It had happened every time.

Sometimes at night when his thoughts started to race, he began to worry that it was only a matter of time before someone flushed the out of this place too.

"Hopefully it won't last long. Maybe you shouldn't kiss me after all. I could be contagious." She grinned up at him.

"Too late now." He dipped his head to hers and claimed her lips again. It was a really long time before they came up for air.

* * *

Beth sat down to write in her journal again. She had kept it up steady for the past week and a half and she was getting antsy for some reason. She didn't know what it was and she couldn't put her finger on it but she felt like she was on the verge of something. She had a feeling she might not like all of it but she also knew that she would be better for it, whatever it was. As she began to write, it occurred to her that it might take more than one book to get it all out.

_It's me again. I can't seem to get past this feeling of not knowing myself and I think I figured it out. When I woke up today, it felt different. I felt different. Like maybe this day was set aside for something. The start of something maybe. A journey that began a long time ago even though the telling of it starts on day one from where I am now. Speaking out of time doesn't make a lot of sense unless you consider that I never left the place where the bad had moved in my mind. I've been suspended in a cobweb of lies ever since. Lies I told myself. "You gotta put it away" and "I don't cry anymore." Lies they told me. "You're not strong." "…Just somebody's burden." Those were the lies that resonated within me.  
_

_I know I put on a big front like it's all okay and what happened there at that hospital doesn't bother me but the truth is it does matter. What they did to me does matter. What Gorman did to me does matter. And I remember. I remember a lot of things I didn't know before. At first I thought they were just nightmares but that's another lie. I was living in the nightmare at Grady and right now it's like I never left. I can still smell the antiseptic. I can still hear Joan's screams as we took her arm. I can still taste the green apple lollipop and I want to throw up. I thought I left it all behind but it just followed me here. I thought I could put it away, but that was just a lie too. Sometimes the lies we tell ourselves are the worst of all.  
_

She read back over one sentence in particular. "I don't cry anymore." Beth thought that might be the biggest lie of all as tears fell from her eyes to land on the pages in front of her. She cried for the girl she had been and the girl she lost and she cried for who she didn't really know she had become.

* * *

Daryl found her this way, sitting with the diary opened to the entry she had just written, that startling revelation. What a hypocrite she had been. She looked up at him then and he came to kneel beside her where she sat at the table, his face a mask of concern.

"Beth." She had only heard this voice one other time, raw, broken, the sadness leeching from his bones and pouring out onto the warped planks of that shack. There he'd spilled all his secrets to her and here she was harboring her own. She dropped her head as the tears started again.

She felt rather than saw Daryl pull her into his arms as they sank to the floor of their kitchen, whispering to her assurances as her breathing came in ragged short gasps. "Shhh, it's okay. I'm here Beth. Y'ain't there anymore baby girl."

God it hurt seeing her like this, hearing her like this as the sobs wracked her body and the tears fell rapidly onto his shirt. He couldn't make sense of anything she was saying right now but he caught that she had been writing in her journal, the one he had picked up for her. He questioned his wisdom of doing that for a moment and then he remembered that book he had found at that shelter. The one about survivors of child abuse. It had talked about getting things out, writing in a journal and that it would be hard and painful but that it would help getting it all out of your head. Daryl understood that. He did. But he felt weird writing out what he was thinking. Even weirder thinking about someone finding and reading it.

Until he held her in his arms sitting on the hard linoleum, he thought he didn't know how bad it could hurt seeing another person's pain. And he thought of one thing. The one thing he might be able to do besides whisper these assurances that it would be okay. He didn't know that with a certainty but the one thing he did know. Yes, he could do that. "I love you." He whispered against her hair, pressing his lips to her head and tightened his arms around her. He repeated it as he brought one hand up to the back of her head, holding her to his chest where she had crumpled against him. "I love you." He said it again, a little louder than a whisper.

Beth heard him whispering that he loved her and it was the only thing that could reach her in that moment. In the dark place where all the bad thoughts were. His voice. His arms. His touch. His love. She pulled back just enough to look up at him. "I know Daryl and I love you too. I'm sorry."

"Girl you ain't got nothin' to be sorry for." He ran his hand over her hair and leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. His heart was thrumming something awful at her pained expression, the one that showed she wore all her pain inside her. Just like him. Just like him and it broke his heart into a million pieces that she could go through anything like that. Sweet, pure, Beth Greene suffering at the hands of some pricks. Like Joe's guys or maybe even worse. "I wish I could take it away."

Beth shook her head and sniffed. She smiled at him sadly. "That's just it, Daryl. I'm the one who has to put it away. I said I was sorry because I was holding you to a standard I couldn't begin to meet. Not yet anyway. I can't put it away until I go through it. I gotta face it with my eyes open. I think I've been hiding. And I've been hiding what happened to me there. But I can't do that anymore."

Daryl eyed her for a long minute, wondering where in the hell she got to be so wise in her 19 years.

She glanced at the journal. "It's helping. Thank you. I think if maybe you want." Her voice trailed off then steeled her resolve to what she had decided in the instant she wrote the last sentence of her journal entry.

"I want to tell you. I want to tell you all of what happened to me there at Grady. I think it's the only way I can get through this and move forward. Ya know? To talk about it. Give it a voice so it's not all up here. Then I can put it away." She looked at him questioningly hoping he got what she was talking about. Some part of her knew that she was being philosophical but she'd heard stories of Daryl and speaking of being Zen. She knew he'd understand her.

Daryl couldn't keep the surprise from his voice when he asked. "Me? Why me?"

She smiled at him. "Because you know me better than anybody Daryl, better than Maggie does even. And I know you won't judge me. I just don't want you to look at me differently."

Daryl shook his head and moved his hands up to her face, his palms resting on her cheeks. "Beth, I could never think any differently of you. I told ya, I'm _yours_." He emphasized the last word. He had not forgotten their first words exchanged of what they were to each other. Defining the love that was blooming between them.

She smiled at him. "People think you don't talk much, but you got them fooled. You always know what to say Daryl Dixon."

He sighed in relief. Score another point for the Dixons. They needed all the help they could get. "Maybe ya inspire me."

She raised her eyebrow at him and he actually grinned at her. He looked so impossibly handsome that rare grin stretched across his face and maybe it was that she'd just bared her soul to him and he'd just seen her at her worst. Again. She didn't know what to chalk it up to. But she knew she wanted to lose herself in him. She wanted to feel something more than the bone-crushing numb that she had been locked into for what seemed an eternity. She and Daryl had not had many intimate moments lately. But she was hoping he was ready for it.

"I'm feeling inspired right now." She smiled at him demurely, testing the waters, and she knew he caught her meaning when she saw that flash of desire in his eyes. She always knew when he wanted her. She could see it reflected in his gaze. Their bright blue hue darkened considerably when he wanted her in that way.

"Yeah?" His breathing hitched in his chest. It felt like ages since he'd gotten this feeling and he realized how much he missed the feeling of the loss of breath being this close to her knowing that one day they'd be together in every way. He knew it'd be someday. Not today but it was certain eventually. Because he loved her and she loved him and that was what people did. They just went about it a different way.

Sometimes he thought he and Beth were supposed to be born of a different time. A time when things mattered, like getting to know the person you were with. Soul searching with that person and digging deep until you find the roots that will connect you, bind you for life. He knew that's what he and Beth were doing and maybe he was waxing poetic a bit but that was okay but this was Beth.

He eased her from his lap and got to his feet, helping her up in the process.

"What are we doing?" Beth sniffed back the remnants of her tears as her cheeks flushed. She hadn't wanted to push him but she'd missed this part of their relationship. The physical part. Being close to him with lips and tongues and hands and fiery skin and warm breath.

"We're going to go inspire one another." He gave a wolfish grin and led her up the stairs to their bedroom.

As they reached the side of their bed, he turned towards her and just looked at her looking up at him all implicit trust and barely concealed passion. He saw it flash behind the blue orbs that stared back at him. He watched silently, barely breathing as Beth brought her hands up to her shirt and pulled it over her head, a little smile playing across her face, then it was gone, replaced by raw need. She never took her eyes off of him as she moved her fingers to her jeans and worked the button loose and slid the zipper open and eased them from her hips and down over her legs, kicking the aside. She was clad now in nothing but that damn pink bra and panties set. He really should fucking burn the damn garments or else they were bound to be the death of him.

He groaned at how perfect she was. She closed the small distance between them and moved her fingers to his buttons. He was about to interrupt her when her voice broke his thoughts. "I shouldn't want this Daryl. To be like this with you." She blushed as she looked at him. "I mean I know we ain't gonna do everything just yet, but just being with you like this, giving each other what we can, it should scare me. It should be a trigger." She whispered that last part, the raw showing in her eyes and in her voice.

Daryl stilled her fingers as she moved to push his pants from his hips. "We don't have to do nothin', Beth." The last thing he wanted to do was cause her to have some kind of panic attack like he'd seen downstairs. He'd just as soon rip his own heart from his chest than cause her that kind of pain.

She shook her head at him and smiled. "That's just it Daryl, this seems to be what I need. What I crave. I shouldn't want this. This should be the last thing I want but because it's you, it's what I want. What I think about all the time. I guess this is my apocalypse therapy." She couldn't help the giggle that burst forth from her lips.

"Sex therapy." He felt his ears turning red as he implied something they hadn't even done yet but she was still laughing and he laughed through his flustered state as she finished working the rest of his clothes from his body, save for his boxers.

Nothing else between them, the climbed up into the bed towards the pillows and Daryl made sure he got a nice view of her ass before she turned to sit down. There was a moment of hesitation on Daryl's part, but then Beth ran one of her hands low on her belly, swooping up to tweak one of her nipples. She was watching him, her eyes taking in his expression and he knew he gave it all away in one growl.

Beth loved watching Daryl get turned on. It was something no one else got to see. In a way it was a shame because it was a sight to behold his eyes going all dark, his pupils bleeding out into pitch black and all the raw desire pulling you under his stare. She felt herself getting wet just looking at him watching her. Then his lips were on hers and his hand was splayed lightly across her ribs and she arched her back, sliding her ribs more firmly against his hand and he got the hint and he moved his hand up and down her torso, coming to rest under her bra. She slid one hand around his torso, her fingers caressing his back the puckered flesh apparent but it was oddly the areas of his skin she loved the most. The areas that marked him that needed claiming for a better memory. A better tomorrow. He didn't tense and actually leaned into her touch, like he craved it and Beth hoped somehow he could heal her scars, not the ones on her face. The ones she hid deep inside where no one could see how they cut and made her bleed.

Daryl continued his assault on her lips before breaking away to breathe and wasted no time in moving his lips down the smooth pale column of her neck, marveling at how soft she was. So soft where he was not and her skin so pale against his ruddy complexion. He wondered that she let him touch her like this and the soft sounds she was making as he ran his lips and hands over her neck and arms, that she liked it. She liked it very much.

What happened next set the chain of events that they almost couldn't recover from. Daryl was moving his lips lower and lower down her neck and it was that moment that Beth chose to arch her back up off the bed, as his head slipped down and he ended up with his lips over her breast. The material of her bra was thin, too thin to be called a bra really especially when he considered that he was scant inches from her nipple. He looked up at Beth, all parted lips and a breathy sigh and she nodded her head at his unspoken request. He barely breathed as he closed his lips over that pert little bud poking up through the thin material and Beth Greene moaned his name as he sucked at her breast through her bra, wishing like hell he'd had the forethought to move the damned material out of his way so he could taste her skin. He flit his tongue out and as if Beth heard his thoughts she reached down into her bra and thrust the material aside, freeing one breast leaving his eyes to feast upon the sight of Beth Greene's tit right in his face.

One hand splayed against her hip and as he fastened his lips over her bare nipple and sucked it into his mouth, Beth bit back a cry and his pants had gotten so tight he was craving release from all the pressure. Daryl turned them and Beth moved her legs apart a bit and Daryl slid one leg between them and Beth ground into him causing them both to moan at the almost contact. His breathing hitched in his chest as she reached behind her and removed her bra and he was left to stare at her, cheeks flushed, lips swollen from his kisses, bare-chested, her rosebud nipples just begging to be kissed. He reached out and ran his fingers over her shoulder and traced an imaginary line watching her eyes follow his fingers and then she looked at him as he continued on his path to her other nipple, the one he hadn't gotten to taste yet. He dipped his head quite suddenly taking it into his mouth, only watching her, lost in Beth. She moved her hips again, wiggling against his leg wedged between hers and it wasn't long before she had settled into a rhythm that mimicked the very thing their bodies were straining so hard to not do. Or maybe it was that they were straining to do it and they were holding themselves back. She was writhing against him now and he removed his lips from her breast and moved quickly up over her as he claimed her lips again with his and her mouth willingly accepted his tongue, hers flitting against his and she moved her hips again and his hands slid of their own accord much as they had the time before, except this time they slid down to Beth's thigh and she whispered against his lips. "Please touch me Daryl."

God he was helpless. He had to. He reckoned he'd do anything she asked of him and hell as he slid his hand slowly, achingly slow down her thigh and back up and finally at the juncture, he tentatively took one finger and traced an imaginary line and he was surprised to feel wetness through the fabric. He looked up at her and met her gaze. Her eyes seemed to challenge him. She wanted him; this is what she wanted him to know.

"More." She whispered.

Daryl pressed his fingers in and Beth moaned and bucked her hips against his hand, craving contact. She was about to lose her mind and wanted his fingers on her, his mouth on her. She wanted every single part of him fused with hers and it didn't make sense and it brought her clarity all at the same time. He pressed his fingers in harder and he'd been watching her move her fingers against herself because he was working her in all the right ways. She moaned loudly as he pressed in harder where her clit was and she wished more than anything that she was naked right now. She saw stars as he pressed harder and she heard bells. Bells didn't seem right.

Daryl bit back a curse as he realized there was someone at the door. Beth's eyes flew to his. "I don't want to see anyone." Her eyes were panicked.

"You don't have to. We can pretend we're asleep." Daryl murmured quietly, rubbing her arms reassuringly.

"It's not even dark." Beth smirked at him. Not even Carol went to bed this early.

"Well they can assume we're doing somethin' else then." She swore he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"Did you just?" Beth laughed. They wouldn't really be doing that. They wouldn't have sex. Neither could deny that the mood had been lost but they had moved very fast. She was lying there bared from the waist up and she was overtaken by a sudden desire to cover herself. She reached for the blanket.

"Cold?" Daryl whispered, lest their surprise unwanted guest heard him.

She flushed and shook her head at him, pulling the blanket up. "I' 'unno." He looked at her sharply and realized she was trying to cover up. He moved his hand to her wrist, grasping it gently.

"You ain't gotta hide. Not from me. Besides I like it." Daryl flushed at his own admission. It was true though. Looking at Beth now, she looked like some damn goddess staring back up at him. "And you're beautiful."

She smiled at him. Always knowing what to say. Always. He thought she was beautiful. And he was _hers_. She smiled to herself and tucked her body against him, stretching as she did so.

"Maybe we can claim we're asleep after all." She yawned.

Daryl pulled her close and reached for the blanket. "Go to sleep baby girl. I'll be here when ya wake up." Whatever she'd gone through down in the kitchen had probably been enough to exhaust her. She needed the sleep.

She nodded in agreement and tucked her head into his chest her hands coming up to splay across his abdomen. "Daryl?"

"Mmm?" He whispered as he ran his hand over the back of her head.

"I love you." Her words would have been enough but the weight of her voice, the change in timbre as they slipped past her lips was like a bolt to his heart, penetrating all the walls he'd built. He was helplessly, hopelessly in love with her and he couldn't help but be happy about it.

"Love you too." He pressed his lips against her hair, breathing her in, vanilla and sunshine. He had never known loving someone could splay you open like this. Make you feel all the things you never even knew you had it in you to feel. There was not another person in the world he could ever imagining doing all this with. No one except her. Beth.

* * *


	11. Don't You Dare Tame Your Demons (always keep 'em on a leash)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth faces down her demons once and for all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for SA.

Red. Everything was red. Blood red splatter on the walls of Dawn's office, blood on the floor where Joan was crawling towards her now. Or the thing that was now Joan because she had turned into one of them. The undead dead.

" _It's easy to make a deal with the devil if you're not the one paying the price_." She whirled to face her undead opponent, the glass jar to the lollipops suddenly shattered in her hand, the prism of colors spinning like a kaleidoscope as all the brightly colored candies dropped to the floor and she was grateful that she wouldn't have to taste the sickly sweet apple that _he_ liked so much. She stared in shock as she watched several pinpoint dots of blood appear on her hands and gradually fading into blood everywhere. Blood on her hands and her wrists and blood covered her cast, the white totally gone, the telltale crimson soaking into the plaster of Paris, permanently staining the fabric of her sweater and she stared at the room around her and couldn't find walker Joan. Suddenly in a disjointed thought she wondered how she was going to kill Gorman since the jar was already broken.

Like the actual boogeyman he is, Beth turned and there he was, his fetid breath on her neck, his hands groping her, one hand sliding up her shirt, tweaking her nipple and she fought the urge to throw up as his other hand found purchase on her crotch, crudely groping her through her pants. He seemed to grow more hands suddenly as she felt them everywhere at once, felt everything at once. The sickly sweet taste of green apple, fingers gripping her hip, fingers grabbing her breast, and worst of all fingers inside of her, painfully probing. His breath hot on her neck mixed with his voice. _"How 'bout it Bethy?"_ Oh how she detested that nickname now.

" _Lucky for me, you ain't a fighter. Lucky for me, you ain't a fighter. Lucky for me, you ain't a fighter."_ His voice stuck like a broken record in her ear. More fingers, prodding where the shouldn't and him grunting and suddenly they weren't in Joan's office but in her room and she bit back a sob as he ripped her pants down exposing her, hands grabbing at her, his thick fingers, clawing and her heart was so loud she thought it might beat right out of her chest.

" _Oh yeah, Bethy, I saw how you was lookin' at me. I know you took the strawberries. I know you took 'em and now you owe me. How 'bout it Bethy? We gonna work somethin' out?"_ Something in his words was a lie and she'd later be able to pinpoint that he was dead by the time she stole the strawberries from the kitchen. That was ultimately the lie that enabled her to see the truth. That she was dreaming.

She was no longer in her dream and she knew it, she was awake, Daryl was shaking her awake and she was sobbing and rocking back and forth in the bed and she didn't know how she had no shirt on. It was as if her mind had fractured and she was two places at once. She couldn't remember Gorman removing her shirt. That was then. Maybe that was some other memory she had that she couldn't think of just now. She only was wearing panties (this was now) and even in her worst nightmare when Gorman would come to her room he'd never been able to get all her clothes off. But she wasn't in the hospital, she reminded herself. (this was now). And she remembered that she was the one who had removed her shirt. For Daryl. For _Daryl_. Not for him. Oh god, _never_ for him. Never.

She didn't even realize how hard she was crying until she had to gasp to catch a breath. Daryl's voice came from beside her and he did things that she didn't even know she needed, reached for one of his shirts off the bottom of the bed and wrapped it around her. Somehow it helped soothe the ache in her that made her feel like the world could see how she was splayed open. But it wasn't the world. It was only Daryl. Only _her_ Daryl. He wrapped a blanket around her and that was when she realized how hard she was trembling. She held it back for as long as she could but the sob tore from her throat and she felt like she was being ripped in two as she let herself feel it. Feel all of it. The raw. The pain. The hurt. The violation. The shame. The disgust. The anger. It washed over her in droves. Separate and all at once and she didn't know if it would ever get any better. She thought she be caught in this current of torment for eternity. She might. She just might die from it and she didn't know if she could bear it.

If Daryl had thought the panic attack the night before was bad, this, this was something else entirely. He had never felt such urgent, all-consuming rage to drive back to Atlanta and destroy anyone who had something to do with this. Beth's pain. There was nothing he could do and it was killing him. And at the same time, he felt such an overwhelming sense of protection over her that he was able to keep it all in check and see that this was not about him. This was all about Beth. This was her pain.

He was reminded of a time when he was feeling at his lowest and he'd bared his soul to her and she had held him as he cried. It struck him that they were thus now, his arms caught behind her after just slipping his shirt over her head. That was when he had pulled her back against his chest and she stayed there now.

"Shhh, you ain't there Beth." He whispered against her ear, his voice low. It was one he'd use to soothe an injured animal and it renewed his rage, deepened his sadness that she'd been reduced to that. Using her given name seemed important. Somehow he knew pet names would ring hollow in this moment. Somehow he knew she needed to identify with something familiar.

He didn't expect her to answer him but her voice came from in front of him. "I am still there Daryl." She shifted in his lap and turned to face him and linked her fingers with his.

He moved to shake his head and the small smile that played over her features was perhaps the saddest thing he'd ever seen, a mere shadow of the ones that normally graced her features, and that included Sophia coming stumbling out of that barn so long ago. It was the sad smile of assurance that she knew she was right. "I am. Daryl I may as well have never left that hospital because I carry it with me." She pointed to her head with her free hand, her voice breaking on a sob again before finishing. "Here."

He pulled her forward into his arms again and she cried into his shirt, but not for long. She straightened up suddenly and ran the back of her hand over her eyes and held tight to the one she'd grabbed a few minutes ago. She looked at him and held his eyes. "The first time he came to me it was with a lollipop. The kind like you'd get at the doctor when you were little." She could remember that too. It had never made sense to her at the time, Dr. Smith telling her not to each too much candy and his receptionist giving her a lollipop on the way out for good behavior. She hadn't liked them much then but now? She detested them.

Daryl nodded. He took a deep steadying breath and didn't break her gaze. This was something she needed to do and though he knew it would anger him beyond belief, this was not about him and his bullshit need to control the situation, control her pain. The time for that was past. His place now was here with Beth, helping her move past this moment. He gave her fingers a light squeeze and he saw the tension in her shoulders ease just a bit and that made the tightness in his chest loosen just a little.

"He took it. It was somethin' Noah gave me, kind of a welcome wagon." She smiled at the memory and Daryl smiled too, knowing it was something that kid would have done. Her frown faded as the memory slipped back into place.

It was not as hard as she thought it would be once she got going. She let her voice kind of carry her into a different state where she was there on the bed with Daryl and she was there in her memory too, pulling out what she needed him to see.

"He took it. It had been under my mattress. I was savin' for later and when I went to find it, suddenly there he was. He was like that. Always sneakin' up on me." Beth cringed remembering the two times he'd snuck into her room. "He forced it in my mouth." She shivered. "It's stupid. That shouldn't make me feel like throwing up, but it does."

Daryl shook his head. "It makes sense to me." Daryl could remember some hooker his dad brought home once. He couldn't have been no more than 13. She'd had spearmint gum in her purse and she'd offered him a stick of it. He'd taken it because gum wasn't something he was accustomed to getting. She'd groped him through his jeans and he'd gotten up and run from the room. To this day the smell of spearmint gum made him want to throw up. He could tell her that now, but he didn't. It seemed somehow wrong to sully her bad memory with his own.

Beth recalled the moments to Daryl one at a time. How Gorman would come to her, his hands groping and how he'd nearly rape her but got interrupted the two times in her room by someone else, the first by Dawn and the second by Dr. Edwards. She'd fought him some the first two times but all it had done was gotten her a black eye for her troubles. By the third time, she knew she'd have to kill him or he'd do to her what he'd done to Joan. To the others. She knew. They'd all told her on the way there. She had been lucky. Lucky. It was a relative term sometimes she thought.

"So the last time he put his hands on me, the third time, was when I killed him. I should feel bad about killin' him Daryl. But I don't. Does that make me a bad person?" Beth's watery gaze met his and he knew it was a moment out of time that he was seeing her thus. So innocent in a corrupted world. So touched by that corruption but not spoiled by it. And it made his heart feel like it was being squeezed by a vice and he was overcome. The tears slipped from the corners of his eyes for the girl sitting before him, who'd faced so much and yet here she was, feeling bad because the guy who tried to rape her was dead by her hands.

"You ain't got nothing to feel sorry for. Even if you don't feel no guilt. He deserved it. Carol once told me you kill and you die or you die and you kill. It was you or him Beth. You chose yourself. Hey." Daryl reached out and put his thumb under her chin, tilting it up prompting her eyes to meet his. "You _always_ choose yourself. You did good. Just cause you killed him, don't make you a killer Beth Greene. You're a good person."

"Maybe you gotta keep remindin' me sometimes." Beth said and she couldn't keep the hitch out of her voice. She knew he'd remember.

Daryl looked at her and didn't even hesitate as he answered her. "If that's what ya need, I'll remind ya every day. Because you are the best there is, Beth and I love ya."

Beth smiled at him. He always knew the right thing to say and she thought just a few short minutes ago that she would always feel as hopeless as she had in that moment. And here she was smiling from ear to ear because Daryl had gone and said the perfect thing that made everything in the world seem a little less scary. "I love you too Daryl." She fit herself against him and laid on his chest. "What time is it?" She yawned; she couldn't help it. Her sleep hadn't exactly been the best, especially with that horrific nightmare.

"You got about an hour before you gotta be up." Beth froze for a minute. He usually rose an hour before her to get ready for going out to work on the wall. That would mean he was leaving soon.

Daryl sensed her tension and tightened his arms around her as he eased them down to the mattress, pulling her against him so she could claim that last hour of sleep. "Relax, baby girl. I ain't goin' anywhere until you're ready."

Beth yawned again. "Think we can stay here forever?"

He chuckled low and pressed a kiss to the side of her forehead. "If it were up to me we would."

"I'm gonna pretend we can." Beth murmured as she drifted off to sleep.

Daryl rubbed his hand over the back of her head and marveled at this girl in his arms, how she'd survived despite everything and despite all the odds she found her way back to his side. There had to be something to that and he knew it. He sent up a silent prayer to a god he wasn't sure was there, he wasn't sure he wanted to know given the state things were in but he needed to give someone credit for this angel beside him. He knew it wasn't by his own merit that he held her in his arms. He only counted himself a lucky man to do so. A very lucky man indeed.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left! xoxoxo


	12. Eyes of the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The deed...... finally right??

She should have known that eventually it would happen. That eventually they would slip right on over that edge to the point of no return. They had been teetering on the precipice of something bigger, something more for the past several weeks and it had only intensified the night after she told him about the hospital. Somehow crossing that hurdle had opened up a whole host of possibilities of where they could take this relationship but one thing was apparent, it was going to the next level.

It was as if by telling Daryl about all of what happened to her, at least the worst of it, she could finally do what she had told Daryl to do. To let go of it and stay who she is now, Beth Greene, someone who survived so much and lived to tell the tale. She wasn't going to stay who she was at that hospital and somehow the way the story spilled out of her, she was able to put it away so it wouldn't kill her. Things like that often did. Just festered and grew and burrowed like a disease, infecting everything it touched until all that was left was poison in your veins.

It's what she'd done when her mama died. She had let that bad feeling stick to her of her dead mother's cold fingers clawing at her, trying to peel the flesh from her bones, such a twisted version of Annette Greene and she let it work its way under her skin until it putrefied and killed off every living cell and she died inside. She went away somewhere in the far reaches of her mind where the dead didn't walk the earth and mothers didn't try to devour their own children and she and her mama were baking cookies in the kitchen and waiting on Daddy to get home. When she had finally "woke up" and realized that it really was true and her dear sweet mama who had read her bedtime stories and soothed all her hurts really was dead, she hurt so bad and her first thought was who was gonna tell her it was going to be okay now?

But that was the hell of it wasn't it? It wasn't ever going to be okay again and she just wasn't sure she wanted to live in that kind of world. With that thought came a freedom, a relief that maybe she didn't have to. So she didn't think. She just _did_ and she went into that bathroom and picked up her glass music box that Daddy had brought back from a veterinarians convention in Florida and she'd thrown it as hard as she could at the mirror. She'd only really expected the music box to break, but instead there was a sudden storm of glass shards falling all around her and she picked up the closest one, sharp.

Everything was strangely in focus and clear as she looked down at her wrist and placed the sharp edge of the glass against her arm. A silvery glint flickered in her periphery just as she placed the right amount of pressure against her skin, feeling the sting as she drew it down. She wanted to look at her arm and watch as her life drained away but she didn't. She felt the ooze of her own blood and the scent of something sickly sweet entered her nostrils but she couldn't look. She couldn't because her gaze was riveted on the wild girl she saw in the large piece of mirror that lay at her feet where blood was now dripping onto her mouth. Not her mouth. The reflection of her and she saw the wide expanse of the blue of her eyes and she became afraid, so afraid that she'd made a mistake and she thought how ashamed her mama would be of her right now.

_Greene's, don't quit, Beth. We are fighters through and through._

She remembered. She had wanted to quit the school play in sixth grade because Bobby Thomas had told her that her eyes were too big and she looked like a big dumb doll. Beth had cried and ran home and told her mother that she was not doing it and they could find someone else to play the part of Wendy.

Her mother had let her cry it out and fixed her a big bowl of ice cream and sat down at their kitchen table in their rambling farm house (with two spoons because Annette Greene was no stranger to sweets). They'd devoured almost the entire thing when she looked up at her mother, sniffling back the remnants of her tears, and she'd never forget what she said.

"You going to let something a silly boy said keep you from your dreams? You do look like a doll, Beth, but not a dumb one. There's not a dumb bone in your body. But you're beautiful, so beautiful and sure your eyes might be a little bigger than most but you'll grow into 'em one day. Your eyes are open wide and you are seein' the world through eyes older than your years. You have an old soul Elizabeth Ann Greene and that boy just don't see it. Not yet. Just you wait. In a few years, every boy in town is gonna want to hold the hand of Beth Greene, but don't you let 'em. You're special sweetheart. You are a fighter.

You came into this world not breathing but your Daddy told that doctor "Greene's don't quit. They fight." He leaned down close to where the doctors and nurses were trying to revive you and he whispered with big ole tears in his eyes. " _I know you got fight in you little one. You're a Greene and we don't quit. Everyone's got jobs to do. Right now your job is to breathe._ " And just like that, there was this big long squawl and we all just laughed because you were the loudest thing anyone had ever heard.

They placed you in my arms and your eyes weren't squenched shut like Shawn's was. Or like any other baby I've ever seen when they were born. Your big blue eyes were wide open. Taking in the world for the first time and I just knew that you had eyes that went into your soul. You have big beautiful blue eyes that go all the way into your heart. You looked at me for the longest time and I fell in love with you instantly. Then you got to squawking again when the nurses went poking on you and getting you cleaned up and pretty for your picture. There was that fight again. Your Daddy just laughed and looked at that doctor and said. "I told ya we were fighters." Doc Stevens never doubted a thing your daddy said after that. So I'm telling you right now, you're gonna go and you're going to do that play because you'll never forgive yourself if you let something a dumb boy said keep you from your dreams."

She'd done that play and she had shined and her mama was right. About two years later, Tommy Harris asked her to the school dance but she politely said no thank you. About six months later, she'd heard Tommy had gotten Kiersten Abbott pregnant and she was so glad she'd turned down his invitation to the dance. Because maybe that would have been her instead.

That memory had flashed at Beth as she dropped the glass to the floor, the clatter echoing in her ears as the door was ripped open and she cried.

"I'm sorry." She'd been so ashamed in that moment because she'd forgotten that moment in the kitchen when her mama told her she was a fighter. But as she stood there with the blood dripping down and looking at her reflection in the mirror, Beth Greene, fighter, she remembered. She remembered how it felt to be told that she was strong and she had defied death since birth and wasn't that what any of them were doing anyway? Defying death every single day and surviving. It was like it was her destiny to survive and she realized then that she couldn't quit. She _wouldn't_ quit. She wanted to live and she wanted that more than anything in the world. That was a turning point for her. Once she realized just how badly she wanted to live and she regretted that split second decision to end her life, it freed her and she vowed to be strong.

She looked out the open window now of the house she shared with Daryl and listened to the birds singing their song and she realized that she wanted something else with the same fervor and that was Daryl. And she had him now but she _wanted him_. She wanted him like a woman wanted a man. And Daryl Dixon was very much a man.

She wanted his hands on her body and his tongue in her mouth and she wanted to feel him inside her. She wanted to be connected to him in that most intimate of ways and she wanted to share herself with him. Moreover she wanted him to give himself over to her in that way too. So they could just worship one another and they wouldn't get it perfect but maybe that was okay too because it was them. And they belonged to each other and they could figure it out together just like everything else up to this point.

The birds were loud like they were just happy to be alive and she smiled to herself thinking that she was too. She hummed a bit and stepped away from the window, tidying up the house before Daryl got home. She was thinking forward to tonight and trying to come up with a way to tell him, she'd wait however long he needed her to but she was ready to make love with him. She could only hope that he wouldn't make her wait too long.

She looked out the window again humming to herself. The abandoned house three blocks over had a few apple trees. Maybe she could make a tart tonight with the cinnamon and sugar she had for dessert. She quickly put her boots on, her idea blossoming in her mind. She wouldn't be gone long. Just long enough to get some apples and see if she could scare up some graham crackers or something for the streusel on top of the tart. She was looking forward to tonight more than any other and it put a bounce in her step. Just a few more hours until Daryl was home and she couldn't wait.

* * *

Daryl had been thinking and that was never a good thing probably but he couldn't help it. Things between him and Beth had changed. In a good way. He picked up the hammer at his feet and placed the nail on the board to anchor it to the steel frame of the wall they were working at getting up to make room for more residents. As he swung the hammer and felt it connect with the nail on each downswing, it did little to release the tension that had been building just beneath the surface. He'd been like this every day and though he got to relieve some of that tension with the things he and Beth had been doing lately, it built back up again quickly and he got the feeling that something was just missing. Quite simply, he was restless.

He pounded another board into place and then reached for the drill to anchor the support beam to the steel structure that would keep the dead separate from the living. Or as separate as they could make it without some bigger way to stop it. He knew there was really only one solution for all these churning thoughts in his head. He'd need to talk to Beth about it and he thought he knew just the way to do it. They'd been talking before about doing more looking and less touching and his mouth went completely dry at the sudden thought of Beth stripped of that final layer between them. He'd caught a little glimpse here and there but he wanted to see all of her. He wanted to see her spread before him and he got so hard thinking about what she might look like her legs parted just for him as he buried himself inside her. He knew it probably wouldn't happen the first time because he was unpracticed in such things but eventually he wanted to make her fall apart in his arms. Use his fingers to work her clit, instead of hers, slipping into her wet folds, using his hands to bring her to orgasm. Or his tongue. He bit back a groan and shook his head in an attempt to shake that image from his mind. He forced his thoughts elsewhere for the rest of the day. It would do anybody any good if he got so distracted thinking about Beth's pussy, he made some stupid mistake that got them all killed. Focus on the job, Dixon.

He may not be able to think about that but he could think about seeing her when he got home and who knew, maybe Beth was ready too. He could never tell with her but she seemed to be sending him pretty strong signals lately. He figured it was time they talked. But first, he had to get this damn day behind him. They had one panel left until the wall was complete and he figured they'd be done by the end of the week. He looked up at the sun in the sky and and figured it was still about 5 hours until dusk. It was gonna be a long afternoon.

* * *

He trudged the last block home, looking forward to just taking off his boots and getting his feet up. But first he wanted a shower. He finally made it to the house and opened the door calling out. The house was silent and he figured maybe she'd gone to the commissary for something for supper. He'd just grab a quick shower before she got home and then get on that list of stuff to fix around the house she had left for him. He figured he'd start with the broken step on the back porch. She liked sitting out there sometimes and he didn't want her hurting her ankle again. He figured things in his life always came back to how it would affect Beth and he guessed it always would.

He climbed the steps to the top floor and headed to the bedroom and began removing his clothes on the way to the bathroom, already groaning at the thought of the warm water sliding over his aching muscles. He turned the water on and adjusted the spray and stripped off the rest of his clothes while the water heated. He groaned out loud as he stepped into the shower, the spray hitting his back. The water pressure was shit but the temperate was just perfect for easing the tired burn that had settled into every crevice of his body. He finished his shower all too quickly and reluctantly turned the water off and toweled dry, realizing that he'd forgotten his clothes in the bedroom. He wrapped the damp towel around his waist as he padded out of the bathroom back into the bedroom that he now shared with Beth.

Had anyone told him at the prison he'd one day be sharing a bedroom with Beth Greene he would have told him that they were fucking crazy. Hell, he probably would have punched them. But he'd changed. By one pretty little blonde that was the subject of about 98% of his thoughts. He wasn't sure where the other 2% went, probably food or smokes or some shit.

He rummaged in the top drawer finally finding a pair of clean boxers that wasn't too threadbare, the black ones that Beth liked so much and if he was planning ahead for the night, well he wouldn't admit to it. He let the towel drop to the floor and was just stepping his legs into his boxers when he heard a gasp from the doorway.

Beth's eyes went wide at the site of Daryl as he stood up, her eyes drawn instantly to his manhood hanging between his legs and her first thought was that she didn't realize he was that long. She knew he was thick because she'd seen how he gripped himself through his boxers during the few times he'd gotten himself off in front of her but Lord, was he long.

She turned away quickly because though they had done stuff they hadn't gone that far yet and he had been coming from the shower and was redressing and that was his privacy right? And oh Lord, he was _long_ and _thick_ and she could feel her panties getting wet. Because all she could think was where her thoughts had been all day and there she came home and now all she wanted was to wrap her hands around his dick and guide him into her where she ached. She wanted him to fill her up and she wanted him to _own_ every inch of her body.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were home." She said and her cheeks were hotter than they'd ever been and she really wasn't sure it was from embarrassment because all she really wanted to do was turn back around and let her eyes have their fill of him.

"You don't gotta look away Beth." His voice came from behind her and he was closer than he had been when she walked in, across the room by their bureau. She felt a smile slip into place and she turned to face him.

"I don't?" That was all she could manage as she turned around and Daryl was coming towards her, all fresh from his shower.

Daryl shook his head at her and realized that he was very much enjoying her discomfort at the moment. Because it was the kind of discomfort that came with a flush on her cheeks and a knowledge that he had put it there. Well his dick had. She'd taken one look at his dick and the flush had crept into her cheeks and those baby blues had flashed at him sharper than daggers as the bright blue hue of them shone bright just before the color was strangled out by the black of her pupils as desire settled over her features. Her lips stayed parted in that moment after her gasp and he could read it on her face. She wanted him. And somehow her wanting him made him want her even more.

"Remember how you said maybe we could do more looking and less touching?" Daryl chose his words carefully, trying to remember exactly how she had said it so he didn't mess it up. But he did want to see her and truth be told he wanted to see all of her. He never even realized how much he needed that until the thought formed, like once it was spoken into existence, he just had to have it. Something else became crystal clear to him in that moment. That he was ready. Ready for all of it. He wanted to strip every item of clothing from Beth Greene's body and he wanted to worship every inch of her with every inch of him. He wanted to see her naked beneath him and he wanted to bury himself inside of her. The only question that needed to be answered now was Beth ready for the same thing.

She nodded and he had the sudden memory of her asking what he'd like to see more of. She got that twinkle in her eye and almost before the words had left her mouth he had formed a response. "What would you like to see more of, Mr. Dixon?"

He held his gaze steady with those baby blues. "Everything."

Beth's breath hitched in her chest as she processed what Daryl had just said. _Everything_. She resisted the urge to rip every shred of clothing from her body to let him have his fill of her. Let his eyes feast upon her body and somehow she knew she would burn up from it, from the inside out and she already had an ache between her legs in anticipation of it. The way he was looking at her now, well, he had never looked at her like that before and she felt a jolt of desire rip through her and settle between her legs and she felt another gush of wet.

Beth reached for the button on her jeans and popped it open, her fingers finding the zipper and sliding it down. She shimmied her jeans down her legs and then reached for her shirt, pulling it over her head, feeling his eyes on her. They'd done this before. Stripped down to their underwear and then climb into the bed together and make out to the point that they were breathless with wanting and ready to burst.

She always tried to find something different or some kind of variation of next to nothing, enough to cover but still tantalize she guessed. Now she stood there in the little white set that she loved. A bandeau bra and a pair of boy shorts that she had fallen in love with when Maggie had again found it scouting for stuff on a run. She was beginning to wonder if Maggie secretly had a lingerie store she was raiding on the regular. Now she fingered the hem of the panties as she bit her lip. She held Daryl's gaze.

He stepped forward and closed the remaining few feet between them and he put his hands on her hips, tentatively at first and then his fingers found purchase in the niche carved out just for him, gripping her hips and pulling her against him. It was like it was his home base and he rubbed his thumb over the waistband of her panties and brought his lips to hers in a slow, sweet, lingering kiss feeling her so warm against him and it swelled up in him, that feeling that he was in over his head but simply didn't care. He pulled away and looked at her.

Her eyes were wide and bright as she searched his. "Does that mean you're ready for everything that comes with that?"

Snce they removed all their clothing, their hands would get to wandering. She knew this with a certainty because all she'd wanted to do since she walked in on him, his dick hanging out for her to see, was to touch him.

Daryl took a deep breath and nodded trying and failing to find his words so he let his touches do the talking for him, as his fingers crept beneath the waistband of her panties and already her skin here felt different, softer, more pliant and his dick twitched inside his pants. Beth drew in a sharp breath and he didn't break her gaze. He knew he was going to want to remember this moment for the rest of his life, the night he and Beth would forge their relationship, their bodies branding one another with the fire of their passion. He knew after tonight they'd be forever marked with the indelible ink of this thing that had taken over them. Their love would be tattooed onto every inch of each other's skin and they'd never be the same but that was okay. Daryl had surrendered to it long ago and he was glad they were where they were. It felt like it took them a lifetime to get here but he knew it was worth it. Beth Greene was worth waiting a thousand lifetimes for. And he knew she'd been waiting for him too. That realization was what gave him the strength to swallow past his fear and give what he was feeling a voice. "Ain't never been more ready for anything else, Beth." His hands came up to her face and held it in place as he looked into her eyes. "But are _you_ ready? We don't gotta do anything you ain't ready for."

Beth nodded and smiled at him, her arms winding up around his neck, her fingers toying with the ends of his hair that still hung just a little too long on his neck, but that was the way she liked it. Her sweet Daryl, always concerned for her safety and comfort. "I've never been more ready for anything either. And I was thinking, we don't gotta do this perfect either. We can do this like we did everything else. Figure it out together."

"You were thinkin' huh?" He smirked. He got a thrill thinking about her, all caught up in thoughts of him and her, doing that. And he felt himself go hard. He'd put his boxers on a bit ago but already his dick was straining against the fabric.

Beth nodded and she found she liked the look in his eyes. There was a gleam there that hadn't been there before. A sureness that had slipped into place where before there had only been hesitance and she realized something in Daryl broaching the subject that they had discussed before when they were talking about ways they could be together without actually doing _it_. But the way Daryl was looking at her now suggested something more. _He wanted her badly._ She had never seen such heat in his eyes and his hands felt rough and delicious against the tender skin of her neck and the friction had a moan slipping from her lips as he pressed inward, her nipples growing harder and an aching forming in her cunt. An ache that was demanding attention as she rocked her hips into him.

Daryl's hands slipped down over her shoulder and he let his hand trail over her skin closer and closer to her breast until his hand closed over it and he squeezed gently as he dipped his head in to kiss her again and walked her over until they were standing by their bed and she had goosebumps broke out over her arms as he smoothed his hands down over her arms. He flicked his tongue out to trace the line between her lips and she opened her mouth under the prompting and their tongues slid against one another and their kisses grew more fervent before they were finally forced to come up for air.

"You cold? We can get you warmed up first?" He suggested gently as he bent his head to kiss down the smooth expanse of her neck and she tasted so good, slightly salty and every inch perfect.

Beth gasped at the contact of his lips on her skin, his breath in her ear. "No, I think you're going to warm me up just fine." For the longest time she had stood there letting the feelings wash over her as he kissed her and set his hands to exploring and she realized she had been so caught up her hands were still against his chest.

Daryl whispered in her ear as his lips grazed over the skin behind her neck and she moaned. His voice deep with desire, he almost growled it as he pulled back and looked at her, trying to communicate his need with his eyes and finding it lacking in this moment. "I want to see you, Beth." He let his gaze travel over her body, letting it rest for a moment over her breasts and then the apex of her thighs. He could see her pebbled nipples through the fabric in her bra and her panties didn't leave a lot to the imagination. He could make out her narrow lips through the thin fabric.

Beth nodded and smiled softly at him before she reached for the hem of her bra. His hands came to rest on hers stilling her movements. "Let me." Beth took a deep breath and tried not to think too hard that Daryl Dixon had just asked to undress her. Sweet Lord, she was willing to bet he wouldn't even have to touch her to get her to cum if the thought of him removing the rest of her clothes had her nearly writhing with anticipation.

His callused fingers slid over the fabric of her bra as he tugged it upward and over her head. It was automatic the way her shoulders hunched together and she moved her hands up to cover herself. Daryl's hands were on hers just as quickly. "Don't." He admonished gently and somehow that gave her the courage to take a deep breath and square her shoulders and she was very, very aware of how his eyes slid over her and how he took in every inch of her almost as if he was drinking her in and it made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the entire world, even if she did have scars on her face. With the way Daryl was looking at her, it was as if nothing had ever happened to her and she got the feeling that her body, her mind, her soul were made for this moment. Were made for this man. This crazy beautiful man who had captured her heart.

God she was exquisite and he didn't think she even knew it. He wanted to kiss every inch of her but he meant what he said. He wanted, no he _needed_ , to see her. All of her. He let his hands slide south to the waistband of her panties but he couldn't resist dropping down to his knees and like a beacon he was drawn to that visibly outlined slit. He'd never touched her anywhere below the waist before though and this was a big step. He was ready. He was. But this was intimate and hell, this was _Beth_. He steeled his nerves and reached out one finger to trace her lips through the fabric and he was surprised at the moan that Beth let out and as he looked up at her she was quite possibly the most beautiful thing on Earth, her eyelids narrowed in half-lidded passion and her mouth parted.

He looked at the creamy expanse of her thighs and he placed one hand on her hip and nudged her gently, prompting her to sit down on the bed. He looked up at her uncertainly where he knelt at her feet, half expecting her to tell him to stop, but all he saw was Beth, her breathing shallow, almost like she was holding her breath as he placed his palms on her knees. He instinctively knew that all he'd have to do is apply the slightest amount of pressure and she'd get the hint. So he did and like every other thing between them he was able to communicate that he wanted her to spread her legs.

She wiggled her bottom on the bed scooting herself closer to the edge and leaned back slightly, supporting herself on her elbows and watching him. Watching him as he talked himself into sliding one hand up in the inside of her thigh and he felt his dick go hardly as she scooted even closer to the edge, wiggling herself again, moving towards him and his fingers were closer, closer, closer to the edge of her panties, closer to her heat.

His fingers were shaking as he brought his hand up to the place where his eyes kept coming back to, a very obvious wet spot on her panties, the proof of her desire and traced his index finger down over her narrow slit that he could just make out through the fabric. Beth moaned loudly and fuck! She pressed herself into his hand. And it wasn't enough. Touching her through even that thin material was not enough. He wanted to feel her but he wanted to see her. He wanted it all at once and he forced himself to take a deep breath as he slipped his hands back up to the waistband of those tiny white panties and in one movement, once again their bodies communicating their needs to one another, Beth's hips came up off the bed, helping him as he pulled them from her long, lithe legs. He deposited them on the floor behind him and turned back to face her and she was bared to him now and he could see. All of her, pink glistening lips, juices slicked over her heat and he had a sudden urge to push her legs behind her head and enter her all in one movement and he didn't know where the fuck it came from. Probably some porno Merle made him watch but that's not what this was about. Sure it was about pleasure but he wanted to be gentle with her. It's what she deserved. Hell, for their first time, it's what they _both_ deserved.

He looked up at Beth and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as she smiled down at him. Fucking smiled at him like he hung the damn moon or some shit. "You're so fuckin' beautiful."

He caught her scent and in that instant he understood suddenly why Merle had gone on and on about the scent of pussy because she smelled fucking amazing and he couldn't wait to taste her because if she smelled that good, then he was sure he would die with one taste of her. But not yet. Not tonight. Tonight was earmarked for other things and he set that in motion by standing back up and vowing that next time he would spend at least an hour between her legs, familiarizing himself with her taste, smell and every single sound she made as he licked every inch of her pussy.

"You seem to have an advantage Mr. Dixon." She sat up a bit and he looked up in surprise. Her smile was playful as her tiny hands came to the elastic of his boxers.

"Better do something about that then." His voice was gruff and it had everything to do with the way she called him Mr. Dixon. He thought back to when she'd first called him that and how at the time he'd hated it. He'd hated everything then. But the fire in her eyes now was nothing like how she'd looked then. He smirked at her and her answering smile let him know she was okay with all of it. He liked this. This teasing banter between them.

He climbed up beside her on the bed and it wasn't long before she was pulling his boxers over his hips, the final article of clothing that stood between the two of them.

Beth's eyes rested on his large cock, head purpled from bursting desire. Her hands moved of their own accord to take him in her hand and he gasped loudly. "I want to suck it." She said honestly. She hadn't meant to but hearing him gasp made her glad she had. Knowing that something like that could affect him so was exhilarating.

He groaned loud enough to wake the dead. "Jesus girl, slow down. Ain't gonna be much fun if I blow my whole wad from the startin' gate." Daryl chuckled at her expression. "There'll be time for that." Listen to him, Daryl Dixon, acting like he knew two facts about sex to rub together but he didn't. Something about being around Beth though made you feel like you knew things. And he wanted to know her. Wanted to know every single millimeter of her alabaster skin. He wanted to learn what each sound that slipped past her soft lips meant and how to please her, how to make her moan louder.

He figured maybe he was learning, kind of like Beth did when he first started teaching her to track and hunt. She was an eager and fast learner. He sort of felt like that now. Not that Beth knew everything there was to know but she seemed to have a better instinct for things like this than he did.

His hands were tracing circles over her bare hip and her eyes were looking to him, so full of trust and love and he was completely overcome. He brought one hand up to the side of her face, tenderly tucking one errant strand behind her ear, he looked into her eyes that he'd come so comfortable with looking into like he wanted to see nothing else but her. "I love ya Beth."

His voice was like nothing else she'd ever heard come from him. Gruff but soft and his words were full of promise and Beth knew that the time had come. She placed her palm against his cheek as she leaned up and kissed him softly and then pulled back. "I love you too, Daryl. So much." Wordlessly, she turned away from him and it was like instinct guided his hand to her ass, running his fingers over her skin and she groaned as she reached for whatever it was on the table that she was after and pressed her ass into his palm and he had visions in his head of a time in the future where he could take her from this angle.

She turned back to face him, holding a foil square in her hand and grinning at him like she held the holy grail between her delicate thumb and forefinger. "Can I?" She knew he caught the meaning behind her gaze when she saw him take a sharp intake of breath. He nodded and she flashed a smile at him as she opened it and she remembered this from health class, rolling a condom over a banana.

As she rolled this one over the hard length of him, a moan escaping after the first initial gasp, she wondered if it was going to fit. Finally it was in place and there was nothing left to do. She rolled on her back and slotted himself over her, bracing one hand beside her head and he couldn't help how his hands shook as he gripped himself in his hand. Beth spread herself wide as he settled between her legs and god how he ached for her as he looked down at the picture she made, opened up and waiting for him as he teased his dick against her heat, both of them moaning and he walked his knees forward a little, nearly stumbling in nerves but was able to right himself and line them up again.

"Sorry." He muttered feeling like a clumsy idiot.

"It don't gotta be perfect, remember?" She reminded him and he looked at her, relief washing over him. He teased her again and she moaned and he liked hearing her do that so much that he kept it up, watching her intently. "Please." Her voice was a whisper. He didn't have to ask what she meant as she rocked her hips up against him her body begging him too, and he entered her, careful to watch her expression. He slid inside and met with a bit of resistance. She winced and he stilled his movements, his concern only for her.

"You okay?" He wasn't moving until she said go. She nodded fervently as she wiggled her hips and brought her feet up, her knees gripping his hips and he groaned at the change in position. Her hands were shaking too as she brought her hands up to splay her fingers over his chest. "I'm fine, I promise. I just need you to make love to me." Her eyes were wide with trust and he nodded back at her, and drew his hips back, unsheathing himself and as he pushed back into her again, her walls snug against him, he moaned and she answered with a cry of her own as he pulled back out and slid back in again, his stroke a little more sure this time. He didn't know what he was doing but just let his body take over because it seemed to know what it was doing and fuck it felt good him pulsing slowly in and out of her heat.

Beth's hands got to wandering then and she slid her hands over his back and froze for a moment, stilling her fingers against the puckered skin there, fulling expecting him to flinch but instead he surprised her and growled and dipped his head down, his tongue instantly in her mouth, needy, searching. For what she didn't know, she was giving him everything she knew to give him and he arched his back against her hand and suddenly she knew what he needed even if he didn't. Her fingers gripped his scar and she let her fingernails graze over his back, lightly and he pulled his mouth from hers to gasp.

"Fuck, Beth, I ain't." His cry was cut off by her finger coming up over his lips.

"Hush now, you let you go if you gotta." It really didn't need to be perfect for her but somehow it was anyway. This with Daryl, their movements awkward, not knowing just how to touch yet, how much was too much and how much was not enough and it was everything she hoped their first time would be. He pulled back again and her fingers found their resting place on his chest again and her core was started to ache something awful like something was trying to click into place and it just wouldn't budge. Like trying to open a jar that was stuck no matter how much you twisted.

He didn't know what he did to deserve this girl who was giving herself to him like this and it was more than he ever thought he'd have, more than he deserved to be sure, and he wanted her to come but fuck he wasn't gonna last much longer. He wanted it to be special for her but he longed to make her come, like he'd watched her do for herself. He forced his thoughts elsewhere for a moment while he thought what he could do and all at once he knew. He'd seen it on a movie he guessed but he bowed his back out a bit as he pumped himself inside her again. His movement made just enough room between where their bodies joined and his fingers touched her heat for the first time, his callused fingers against the slick of her, working his fingers against her, mimicking the way she did it for herself. She moaned loudly and he knew he was doing something right when her breath started coming in short pants.

When Daryl worked his hand between them and his fingers found her clit she swore she saw stars, bright bursting stars in her vision as the pleasure tickled its way down her spine, a promise of what was to come. "Daryl." His name fell from her lips in a breathy moan and it was music to his ears and he hoped with every single fiber of his being that she was close because he felt the telltale tightening in his balls and he growled against her ear. "I'm gonna cum." He was burying himself in her to the hilt, hitting her and bottoming out on each stroke and though his movements were jerky he knew he was hitting all the right places as she gasped each time their bodies slid blessedly back together and he didn't stop not even when his orgasm ripped through him. He applied a bit of pressure on her clit as he rocked out the rest of his orgasm and he stared down in awe as her back arched up off the bed, her own release racing through her.

Beth felt it spiraling and it was like she was chasing something and then all at once Daryl announced his impending release and there was something in the way that he said it that let her know that this was the final giving over that she needed from him. He was giving her everything he had and she was ready to take it. Now she really did see stars as waves of pleasure started at the bottom of her spine, the shock waves rolling through her cunt as she felt a gush of warm and a strange tingling and then the muted buzz in her veins as she came down and Daryl's hips slowed to a final halt against hers, his forehead resting against hers as they both panted for breath.

A deep rumbling laugh burst up from her and stared down at her and she looked up at him, eyes wide with her reaction. "God that was good."

He couldn't help the upturn of his lips at her amusement. "Something funny about that?" He smirked.

She nodded slowly while he pulled out of her and took care of business. She sat up and grabbed their quilt from the bottom of the bed pulling it over the both of them. He extended his arm and she beamed one of those thousand watt smiles at him as she settled against him so they could just lay there and talk. Pillow talk. He smiled to himself and laughed too. "I think I get it. Ya know Merle would have gotten a kick out of all this." Somehow admitting it out loud felt good and she smiled at him.

She sighed. "Everyone gets a kick out of this." She grinned up at him, sighing contentedly as she settled against him. "I don't get it though. Are we really that unusual? We're so much alike and where we're not, it's still okay."

" _I saw you, when my mom came out of the barn. You were just like me."_ She didn't realize how true her words were when they'd screamed out their frustration and grief at one another that hot Georgia day. She looked into his eyes, his eyes that spoke a thousand words and her mama's words rang out in her ears again. " _You got eyes that go all the way into your heart."_ She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes as realization dawned bright in her mind. That Daryl really was the same as her because she saw the same thing reflected back in his eyes. He had eyes that went all the way into his heart and he figured he saw into her heart too and she saw into his. Their eyes were wide open as they looked at each other now and Beth knew this was where she belonged and to whom she belonged.

" _We'll just belong to each other."_

He grunted. He didn't care much what everyone else thought, only what Beth thought of him. "Don't matter." They'd never understand what they had because he knew what they had was not like anything anybody else had. Daryl knew he'd never had anything like this and how could he explain something that he didn't quite get himself. He pressed his lips to the side of her head. "I'm yours and you're mine, remember?"

"I do." And if those words held more weight in this context where they were pledging themselves then so be it and if it seemed an echo of a vow spoken between two people in a church before a preacher, then that was okay too. They talked in whispers for a bit more, tidbits of nothingness, all while fingers traced lazy circles and drew imaginary lines on sex-flushed skin.

Gradually, they both grew silent and her breathing evened out. As Daryl watched her sleeping before closing his own eyes and surrendering to the sated feeling that came from giving himself so completely to Beth Greene, the love of his life, he took in her even and steady breathing all curled against him and he knew she was dreaming good dreams.

And if she woke up in a nightmare, he'd be here to chase them away with his touches, his kisses and he could do that now. He might have shown her how to fight and how to survive but she had shown him how to love and to Daryl that was just as important. No that was everything. This love he found with Beth was his whole world. It was _surviving_ to him. He'd never had a home, only a trailer, a tent, the cold hard ground, the inside of a car, a run-down shanty and now this fine house in Alexandria. And it was just a house until Beth came, boards nailed together to form walls to keep out the world.

But when Beth crossed into the walls of Alexandria and then stepped across the threshold of this house, that was when he was home. What had been before just four walls and a roof became a home. All because of Beth. His Beth. He thought what he'd said to her before when they'd been reading that fairy tale book, the Princess Bride.

" _Out there beyond those walls, the worst kind of monsters are out there. The people are even worse somethimes. But in here, in these four walls when it's just us. I feel like we got the fairy tale."_

It was true. Ever since Beth came and turned his nightmare world upside down, he had been living a dream and he didn't want to wake up. She sighed in her slumber and snuggled closer to him and he didn't hesitate to slip his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. He felt every bit of tension leave his body as he closed his eyes and let sleep finally claim him. As he drifted off with her safe in his arms, he felt weightless with the realization that he was happy, _at peace_. He'd been an outdoor cat long enough, he supposed. Daryl Dixon had finally come home.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for joining me on this intimate journey of Bethyl, please leave a comment if you so desire on the way out, xoxoxo

**Author's Note:**

> So in case you h aven't figured it out yet, the entirety of this fic is pretty much just Beth and Daryl figuring out the physical part of their relationship. Hope you enjoy the intimate journey they take together. xoxoxo


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